Champions Trophy Live: Debutants Afghanistan ready for South Africa clash

Afghanistan enter the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy aiming to continue their trend of upsetting top-tier teams - a skill they've honed in recent years. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, they stunned England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while in the 2024 T20 World Cup, they made history by defeating New Zealand, Australia and Bangladesh en route to their first-ever ICC tournament semifinals.

Buoyed by confidence, Afghanistan will look to build on that success and push for a semifinal spot in the Champions Trophy. Led by captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, they will begin their campaign against South Africa in Karachi on Friday.

Batter Ibrahim Zadran is confident that the team will enter the tournament with the same intent and mindset.

Afghanistan and South Africa are part of a challenging Group B, alongside Australia and England. Group A features Pakistan, India, New Zealand, and Bangladesh, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals.

With both teams eager to make a strong start, Friday’s clash promises to be a high-stakes battle in the Champions Trophy.

South Africa, winners of the inaugural Champions Trophy—then known as the ICC Knock-Out Trophy—in 1998, have since struggled in major tournaments. They lost in the semi-finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup and were runners-up to India in last year’s T20 World Cup.

Bavuma, however, dismissed concerns over South Africa’s long title drought. “There's no negativity from the fact that we haven't been able to be successful in other ICC events or editions,” he said. “But there is a lot more positivity and confidence in terms of our ability or how far we can go within the tournament.”

Despite losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in the tri-series, Bavuma remains optimistic.

“We understand the Champions Trophy is a little bit different. It's almost like every game is a knockout type of thing, and our mindset really is to make sure that we pitch up and play our best game of cricket,” he said.

“Hopefully, we're playing five games and not three games of cricket in this tournament. I think most importantly, we win the moments that matter.”

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma acknowledged Afghanistan’s growing reputation and warned his team against complacency.

“They are a highly competitive team,” Bavuma said. “I think they've got a lot of experience within their team—guys who have that international pedigree at least from a skill point of view, and we have to bring out our A-game.”

The two teams last met in a three-match ODI series in Sharjah last year, where Afghanistan triumphed 2-1. Bavuma admitted Afghanistan would carry confidence from that victory into Friday’s match.

“They won that series, so they won’t be short of any type of confidence coming into the game tomorrow,” he said. “But in terms of preparations, we have ticked all the boxes.”

South Africa will be at full strength for the match, with key players such as Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, and Rassie van der Dussen returning after missing the recent tri-series in Pakistan.

Afghanistan, which has rapidly risen in international cricket, will also face England on February 26 and Australia on February 28 in Lahore. Having learned the sport in refugee camps in Pakistan, Afghan cricketers have made an impressive mark, defeating England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in the 2023 ODI World Cup and reaching the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year.

“We have recently beaten South Africa in Sharjah, so we have that confidence with us and we are not under any pressure,” Shahidi stated. “We are doing very good, so we are here to win the final and not just to participate. We are definitely one hundred per cent looking to win this event.”

With Rashid Khan, ranked second among ODI bowlers, leading the spin attack and hard-hitting batters like Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, and Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan poses a strong challenge.

Last month, South Africa’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie supported calls from British politicians for a playing boycott of Afghanistan. While the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) resisted the demand, they have ruled out bilateral series with Afghanistan. Australia, another Group B team, has canceled a T20I series and a Test against Afghanistan in the past two years but will still play their scheduled Champions Trophy fixture.

Shahidi, however, remains unfazed. “We only control things inside the ground, that's our job,” he said. “The other things cannot put us under pressure.”

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi has dismissed calls for a boycott of his team’s matches in the ICC Champions Trophy due to Afghanistan’s treatment of women under the Taliban.

Speaking in Karachi ahead of their Group B opener against South Africa on Friday, Shahidi made it clear that his team remains focused solely on cricket.