Can Afghanistan go back-to-back? Can they topple Australia after England?

Afghanistan are in prime form to beat the best in business and the men from Down Under are certainly that as they look to combat a side which has just dumped Jos Buttler’s team out of the competition on Wednesday night

Before the start of the Champions Trophy, Group A was considered the Group of Death. But midway through the tournament that mantle has been taken over by the other group. With hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh well below par, Group A became a tame affair, leaving Group B to provide all the thrills. Afghanistan have livened things up by knocking England out and keeping their door to the knockouts open.

In a matter of one game, Afghanistan have become not only the team of the tournament, but also the side to look out for. To know if they have more surprises up their sleeves, we have to wait till Friday night when they take on Australia in a must-win game. Having shocked the world by their performance in last year’s T20 World Cup, coach Jonathan Trott’s side are now just a win away from reaching the semi-finals in back-to-back ICC events.

At the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, Afghanistan made it to the last four, but were bundled out for a meagre 56 against South Africa. Before that, in the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India, they defeated Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands in the league phase and had their chance to make it to the semi-finals when they had Australia down at 91-7. But Glenn Maxwell played a brilliant innings of 201 not out, hobbling on one leg to guide the Aussies home in a crucial match at Mumbai. Thus, their outing against Australia in Lahore today is not going to be easy. Whatever the outcome, the fact remains that in the last few ICC events Afghanistan have outshone teams like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

So, what makes Afghanistan tick? Coach Trott has overseen first-hand Afghanistan’s rise to cricketing prominence, crediting how his side has become more battle-hardened against the world’s top teams. Talking to the media in Lahore and quoted on the ICC website, Trott said: “There’s a resilience to them. I think if you add to some cricketing experience and cricketing match awareness with regards to batting in particular, with regards to how you pace the innings… it’s not always down to one person. We have seen Ibrahim (Zadran), the way that he’s been doing, we’ve seen (Rahamanullah) Gurbaz do it… we have Gulbadin (Nabi) at eight at the moment, who can come in and change games. It’s not always just about one person. It’s about the team, but it’s watching the guys like (Mohammad) Nabi and Rashid (Khan) and the way that they go about their business it’s only great for the younger players and that increases or speeds up their development, and hopefully we can continue to bring the players through. These upcoming players are gaining valuable experience being with the team.

“With so much experience at hand and positive results against teams like England and Australia, it has given rise to self-belief which is quite infectious and it spreads within the squad. Beating England twice first in the T20 World Cup and now in Champions Trophy is a great achievement which means this Afghanistan side can no longer fly under the radar.”

Though Trott is aware that it’s not going to be easy against Australia, there is hope: “Since I’ve been the coach, we’ve played against Australia three times and we’ve been in the game each of those games. So, we should take a lot of confidence from that.” Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, feels a win like this will boost his team. “Like we defeated England, we hope to beat Australia too,” he said.

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