Former India player Aakash Chopra has chosen Afghanistan’s spin attack as their biggest strength ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025. He also added that the Asian team will likely field four potent spinners in their playing XI as well. The Champions Trophy 2025 will be played in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 onwards as well. Afghanistan, who are placed in Group B alongside Australia, England and South Africa, will play all their group matches in Pakistan as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “What are Afghanistan’s strengths? Firstly, the best spin attack of the tournament. It’s not that we (India) are not taking spin. We have also kept four spinners, which includes three fingers and Kuldeep Yadav, in our provisional squad. However, I am saying ours is not the best. Theirs is the best.”
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“They have Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Allah Ghazanfar and Mohammad Nabi. Now tell me whose is better. We pick bowlers who also bat well, barring Kuldeep Yadav. They have one better than the other. They can bowl 40 overs of spin. They will make the opposition surrender even if there is slight help for spin from the pitch,” he added.
In the same video, Aakash Chopra also picked a lot of all-rounders as Afghanistan’s other strength heading into the Champions Trophy 2025 as well.
“After that, they have a lot of all-rounders. Some people say they are bits and pieces, but the truth is that Azmatullah Omarzai is a proper batter, Gulbadin Naib does proper batting and bowls, Mohammad Nabi is a proper batter and bowler, Rahmanullah Gurbaz is a wicketkeeper-batter, and Rashid Khan bats decently. This team has the might if you see it from the all-rounders’ perspective. I think they have some decent all-rounders, who are especially good for these conditions. At times, subcontinental all-rounders are good for those conditions but you feel they are not the same all-rounders in Australia and England. It’s not the case with them,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
