Afghanistan cricket team has chalked out plans for the entire Australian side and is not just focused on Glenn Maxwell, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said ahead of their must-win Champions Trophy match scheduled to be held on Friday.

Having knocked England out of the tournament with a stunning eight-run win in Lahore on Wednesday, Afghanistan are now seeking to get the better of Australia at the same venue on Friday and book a semifinal berth.

“You think we will come only to play with Maxwell? Do you think it will be like that? We have planned for entire Australian team, and I know that he (Maxwell) played really well in the 2023 World Cup, but that’s part of the history,” Shahidi said at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.

Chasing 292, Australia were staring at a certain defeat after losing seven wickets with less than 100 on the board, but then, Maxwell played one of the greatest knocks in history of one-day cricket to steer his side into an unbelievable win, and days later, the Aussies won a record-extending sixth World Cup.

However, the Afghans exacted revenge for that painful defeat with victory against Australia in the T20 World Cup a year later after Maxwell again threatened to take the game away from them.

“After that, we beat them in T20 World Cup, and we think about all opposition team. We are not coming to the ground to plan on individual players. We will try our best to come with the planning, and we are not playing only Maxwell – we are playing Australia,” Shahidi said.

Wednesday’s win was their second in ODIs against England after their stunning victory in the 2023 World Cup in India.

The victory against England sparked wild celebrations in the Afghan capital of Kabul where fireworks were lit and streets were filled with jubilant fans.

Should Afghanistan get past Australia, it will pave the way for their second successive entry into the semifinals of an ICC event in less than a year, following their inspiring run in the T20 World Cup in the Americas in 2024.

Shahidi, however, is not reading much into the prospects of semifinal appearance.

“I think it will be a good game for cricket, and our focus will be to keep things simple and don’t worry much about playing semifinal. We will try to do our basics well, and we will try to come to the ground with good planning,” Shahidi said.

“Afghan people always cheer for us, as you saw (against England) in the ground. There were a lot of our Afghan people. So, their support is always with us, and wherever we go, they support us. They are coming to the stadiums.

“And whenever we play games like this, all Afghanistan, back home watching from TV. When we wake up, we will analyse the opposition team and we will come with good planning.”