Champions trophy 2025: Australia beware!

Afghanistan’s performances at the 50-over and T20 World Cups mean there is no chance of Australia taking them lightly in Friday’s Champions Trophy match, particularly with a place in the semifinals on the line, coach Jonathan Trott said. Afghanistan beat England by eight runs to stay in the hunt for a berth in the last-four, underlining their strength in limited-over cricket.

Trott’s side beat England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to finish sixth at the 50-over World Cup in 2023 and followed that up by making the semifinals of the T20 edition last year, beating Australia along the way. “It’s all on the line, and since I’ve been coach we’ve played against Australia three times and we’ve been in the game in each of those games,” former England batter Trott said.

“We should take a lot of confidence from that ... certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan’s never going to be taken lightly ever again. We’ve got to be prepared because I know Australia aren’t going to take us lightly. In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. In this format, in these conditions, I don’t see that. Every game that we play is going to be competitive and every game we go into I expect to win.”

We’ve planned for Australia, not just Maxwell: Shahidi

Afghanistan have chalked out plans for the entire Australian side and is not just focussed on their bete noire Glenn Maxwell, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said.

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

Chasing 292, Australia were staring at certain defeat after losing seven wickets with less than 100 runs on the board, but Maxwell played one of the greatest knocks in the history of ODI cricket to steer his side to an unbelievable win.

However, Afghanistan exacted revenge 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 the T20 World Cup. We are not coming to the ground to plan for individual players. I think it will be a good game and our focus will be to keep things simple,” Shahidi said.

‘No need to be a rocket scientist to know India’s advantage in Dubai’

Karachi: South African top-order batter Rassie van der Dussen said one doesn’t “have to be a rocket scientist to know” that India are “definitely” in an advantageous position being based in Dubai for the ongoing Champions Trophy, but their knowledge of the conditions could also put them under pressure to fully exploit it. Rohit Sharma’s men are playing all their matches in Dubai, and even the final will be held there if the team goes the distance, while the rest of the teams have to criss-cross Pakistan for their matches. “It’s definitely an advantage. I saw that Pakistan was commenting about it, but it’s definitely an advantage. If you can stay in one place, stay in one hotel, practise in the same facilities, play in the same stadium, on the same pitches every time, it’s definitely an advantage,” van der Dussen said. “I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist to know that. The onus would be on them to use that advantage. In a sense, it puts more pressure on them to get it right because they have all that knowledge.”