Parthiv Patel says Afghanistan is the dark horse for the 2025 Champions Trophy. The prestigious international competition, which begins in Karachi on February 19, will feature the Blue Tigers’ first appearance.
Group B includes South Africa, England, Australia, and Afghanistan. On February 21, the Asian squad will kick off their campaign against the first-ever champions, South Africa, at Karachi’s National Stadium.
Afghanistan’s performance at the recent ICC events has been excellent. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, they defeated the defending champion England, as well as previous winners Sri Lanka and Pakistan. As a result, they performed admirably in the T20 World Cup the year before. Under Rashid Khan’s direction, Afghanistan made it to the World Cup semifinals for the first time.
For this reason, Parthiv Patel chose them as a dark horse for the upcoming event.
When he predicted his four semi-finalists, he took into consideration their most recent performances. He also thinks Afghanistan will take a few teams by surprise during the tournament.
India, Pakistan, Australia, and South Africa will all receive ICC trophies. However, Afghanistan is my dark horse. They have shown remarkable cricket talents in the 50-over level. It was just Glenn Maxwell’s inning, but I think they had a chance to get to the playoffs. Afghanistan has the ability to surprise all other teams, Patel said on Star Sports.
Kevin Pietersen claims that semi-finalists
Kevin Pietersen, the legend of England, also revealed his four Champions Trophy semi-finalists. Due to Mitchell Starc’s withdrawal from the competition and several key players’ ailments, Pietersen did not include Australia in his squad.
I realize this is incredibly tough. It is, indeed. Pietersen said, “But since Mitchell Starc is not playing today, I’m going to say India, Pakistan, South Africa, and New Zealand.”
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