Afghanistan is the dark horse for the next Champions Trophy 2025, according to Parthiv Patel. The Blue Tigers will make their debut in the esteemed international competition, which gets underway in Karachi on February 19.
Afghanistan, Australia, South Africa, and England are all in Group B. At the National Stadium in Karachi, the Asian team will play inaugural champions South Africa on February 21 to begin their campaign.
Afghanistan has performed admirably in recent ICC events. They defeated the reigning champions England, as well as former winners Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the 2023 ODI World Cup. They put up a fantastic display in the T20 World Cup the previous year as a result. For the first time, Afghanistan advanced to the World Cup semifinals under Rashid Khan’s leadership.
Parthiv Patel therefore selected them as a dark horse for the forthcoming event,
Taking into account their recent performances, when he made his predictions for his four semi-finalists. Additionally, he believes Afghanistan will surprise a few teams during the competition.
The ICC trophies will be awarded to South Africa, Australia, India, and Pakistan. Afghanistan is my dark horse, though. In the 50-over format, they have demonstrated exceptional cricket skills. I believe they were in the running to make it to the semifinals, but it was only Glenn Maxwell’s innings. According to Patel on Star Sports, Afghanistan has the potential to surprise every other team.
According to Kevin Pietersen, semi-finalists
In addition, England legend Kevin Pietersen announced his four Champions Trophy semi-finalists. Australia wasn’t one of Pietersen’s selections because Mitchell Starc pulled out of the competition and a number of prominent players were sidelined by injuries.
This is really difficult, I know. Yes, it is. Pietersen stated, “But since Mitchell Starc is not playing today, I’m going to say India, Pakistan, South Africa, and New Zealand.”