England and Afghanistan will take the centre stage in a must-win clash of the Champions Trophy 2025. It is do-or-die for both these teams as they have already suffered a loss apiece in their respective opening matches in the competition.
While England faced a five-wicket pummeling at the hands of their arch-rivals Australia, Afghanistan were not even in the game when they went head-to-head versus South Africa, eventually losing by a mammoth margin of 107 runs.
As Australia and South Africa currently stand at three points with their match against one another getting abandoned due to rain, it has left England and Afghanistan in a precarious spot as they are on the brink of an elimination.
England’s Declining White-Ball Stocks
Talking about England, the side led by Jos Buttler has been going through tumultuous times. In 2019 when they won their first ever ODI World Cup, it seemed as if England would rule world cricket for many years to come. They did and claimed another ICC title in the form of the T20 World Cup in 2022. But since then, The Three Lions are in a downward spiral.
It all started with the ODI World Cup 2023. The then-defending champions recorded their worst-ever World Cup campaign, losing six of their nine matches. In the T20 World Cup 2024, England never looked convincing and were defeated by India in the semi-finals.
In what could be their third consecutive disappointment in an ICC tournament, England are in all sorts of trouble. An injury to Brydon Carse, who they were preferring ahead of Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Saqib Mahmood, might further affect their chances to remain in the semi-finals contention.
The bigger worry for them is their batters’ inability to play spin. Afghanistan have quality spinners in their ranks. The likes of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi can lay any batting line-up to waste and the way England batters are currently taking their chances against the tweakers, they can very well make a lightwork of this task.
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Afghanistan Aim For Glory
Afghanistan, despite getting laid to waste by South Africa in their campaign-opener, are on the ascent. Hashmatullah Shahidi and Co. showed what they are capable of in the 2023 World Cup. They dominated sides like England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and almost beat Australia.
Continuing their rise, they went a step further in the T20 World Cup the following year and reached the semis where they lost to South Africa.
On Wednesday, when England and Afghanistan will lock horns, the Afghans will again aim to do what they are good at. If they beat England, it would not be an upset, but surely it would not take away the fact of how massive of a win it would be.
Squads
England: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran. Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Bilal Sami.
