Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Sunday announced the national team’s squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to be played from February 19 to March 9 this year in Pakistan and UAE.

Afghanistan’s prolific top-order batter, Ibrahim Zadran, who was away from action due to an ankle injury, has returned to the squad.

However, Mujeeb Ur Rahman misses out on the selection, as AM Ghazanfar, a similar mystery spinner, has made the cut for the mega event, ACB said in a statement.

The squad also includes Sediqullah Atal, who recently had an impressive performance in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, earning the Player of the Series title by scoring a total of 156 runs, including a century and a half-century in two games.

“AfghanAtalan have performed exceptionally well in the past two ICC events, the CWC23 and the ICC World T20 2024,” ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf stated.

“Their impressive performances in these two event coupled with their ODI series victories last year will undoubtedly boost their morale and help them deliver an even better campaign this time.”

“The appointment of mentors has proven to be quite beneficial for us in both of the last two events. Given this success, we have appointed Mr. Younis Khan, who has extensive international and local experience, and we look forward to making full use of his expertise during the event,” he added.

ACB Interim Chief Selector Ahmad Suliman Khil commented, “Mujeeb Ur Rahman was not available for the selection as he has been advised by his doctor to focus on T20s for a while to ensure his full recovery before returning to ODIs. That was also the reason he missed on the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe.”

“Conditions in Pakistan are similar to those in Afghanistan and the UAE, where we usually play. We will conduct a preparation camp in multiple phases before embarking on our journey for the big event. The expectations are high, and I hope the team will prepare well and deliver some excellent performances, just as they did in the last two World Cups,” he added.

Afghanistan’s 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malik.

Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami are part of the reserve pool for the event.

About the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy

Australia and India are the two most successful sides in the ICC Champions Trophy since its inception in 1998 when it was known as the ICC Knockout Trophy. Both the sides have won the event twice, with Australia being the only side to win back-to-back titles – in 2006 in Mumbai, India, and in 2009 in Centurion, South Africa. India shared the title with hosts Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2002 before winning again in Birmingham, England, in 2014.

Other past winners are South Africa (Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1998), New Zealand (Nairobi, Kenya, 2000), West Indies (The Oval, London, 2004) and Pakistan (The Oval, London, 2017).

Broadcast Rights in Afghanistan

Cricket fans across Afghanistan will be able to watch the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy live, thanks to Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN), which has secured the exclusive rights to broadcast the event on Ariana Television.

This will be the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy and it will be hosted in Pakistan.

For news and updates on the event, be sure to follow Ariana Television and Ariana News’ social media pages.

The match schedule is below.