Afghanistan continued to give millions back home a reason to celebrate as they qualified for the first time for Champions Trophy 2025 set to be played in Pakistan. Afghanistan’s participation in the showpiece event was confirmed after Sri Lanka’s loss to Bangladesh in yesterday’s ICC Cricket World Cup. The two Asian teams have now joined England and Netherlands to have been eliminated from the World Cup.
Only eight teams can qualify for the Champions Trophy. Pakistan will automatically qualify as they are the host nation. Apart from Pakistan and Afghanistan, India, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia have booked their place for the CT 2025 event. Two spots are still to be confirmed for the showpiece event.
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England, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are still in contention to play CT. The top eight teams in the World Cup points table will play the CT 2025.
How did Afghanistan Cricket Team qualify for the Champions Trophy?
Undoubtedly, Afghanistan is been a revelation in World Cup so far. Entering the showpiece event, the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side had won only one game from the 2015 and 2019 editions of the World Cup. However, in the WC the Afghans defeated England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Netherlands to harbor hopes of qualifying for the semis of the WC.
They still have two games left to be played against Australia and South Africa. Afghanistan needs to win both these games to secure a semis spot. While the task is difficult, it is certainly not impossible, as the Afghans have enough firepower and gumption.
Today the Afghans will be playing Australia in Mumbai. Ahead of the crucial game, Sachin Tendulkar visited the Afghan players and gave a nice pep talk. The Afghan players bonded with Tendulkar and clicked a few pictures with him.
