In ICC tournaments, Afghanistan have been more than just about one player in Rashid Khan.
Over the last few years, Afghanistan have become one of the teams to be reckoned with in ICC tournaments. And it’s no different in the ongoing 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, where they stunned England on Wednesday (February 26). They could have qualified for the semi-finals if the result went in their favour against Australia on Friday (February 28).
Spinner Rashid Khan has been the guiding force for the Afghans in the last few years and even led the team in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA, where they reached the semi-finals.
But, Afghanistan are not just about one man in Rashid Khan. Some other key players have equally contributed to the team’s rise in global tournaments. Which are those players and how have they contributed? We take a look:
Azmatullah Omarzai impressed for Afghanistan as recently as on Wednesday when they defeated England by eight runs. He has been Afghanistan’s standout all-rounder. He played a vital role with the bat with a knock of 41 runs off 31 balls. He followed that up with an impressive performance with the ball, registering game-defining figures of 5/58.
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Omarzai enjoyed an excellent 2023 ODI World Cup campaign, scoring 353 runs from nine matches and taking seven wickets. At the 2024 T20 World Cup, Omarzai scored just 111 runs from eight matches, but one mediocre tournament does not define a player like him who has showcased immense all-round talent.
Ibrahim Zadran became the first Afghanistan batter to score a century in the ODI World Cup when he slammed an unbeaten 129 against Australia a couple of years ago. Fast forward to 2025, he has become the first Afghan to hit a ton in the Champions Trophy, a knock of 177 against England a couple of days ago. At the 2024 T20 World Cup, Zadran scored two fifties while aggregating 231 runs from eight matches.
Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz had a mediocre ODI World Cup in 2023, scoring 280 runs from nine matches and hitting two fifties. But he managed to turn things around in the 2024 T20 World Cup. He was the tournament’s top-scorer with 281 runs from eight innings at an average of 35.21, including three fifties.
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