ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Afghanistan will never be taken lightly again, feels coach Jonathan Trott

Afghanistan defeated England by eight runs in the Group B clash of ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Afghanistan made history with their first-ever win in the ICC Champions Trophy. The Asian underdogs defeated England by eight runs in a thrilling contest in Lahore on February 26.

Batting first, Afghanistan were led by Ibrahim Zadran, who scored a record 177 – the highest individual ODI score for the team. He received strong support from Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Mohammad Nabi, who all scored over 40 runs to take the total to 325/7.

In the second innings, Afghanistan struck at regular intervals to keep the pressure on England. Omarzai picked up 5/58 and dismissed centurion Joe Root to seal the game for his team.

The victory has kept Afghanistan alive in the tournament. They will secure a semi-final spot if they defeat Australia on February 28 in Lahore.

Coach Jonathan Trott remarks Afghanistan will never be taken lightly again

Speaking after Afghanistan’s historic win, head coach Jonathan Trott stated that he told the players Afghanistan would never be taken lightly again.

Trott said, “What happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and [now], I say this to the players: Afghanistan’s never going to be taken lightly ever again.“

“In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic test nation.“

The former England batsman stressed the importance of quickly shifting focus to Australia.

He added, “Since I’ve been coach, we’ve played against Australia three times and we’ve been in the game each of those games.“

“I’ll tell the players to enjoy tonight. I’m going to make sure when they wake up tomorrow, they’re ready for Australia immediately. The focus is on Australia. That’s how the players are going to be and that’s what I’ll tell the fans.“

Afghanistan came agonizingly close to defeating Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Mumbai, only to be denied by Glenn Maxwell’s historic double ton. They finally got their win against the Aussies in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

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