Follow UsAfghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi announced the goal of his team for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 before their first game of the tournament against South Africa on February 21 (Thursday).
Having just about missed making the semi-finals in ODI World Cup 2023 and the final in T20 World Cup 2024, the Afghans are looking to clear the final frontier this time around in a land closest to their home.
“We are not here just to participate in this tournament. We are definitely 100% looking to winning this event,” Shahidi said in the pre-match press conference on February 20 (Wednesday) in Karachi.
The Afghan skipper also made it clear that his team was under no pressure at all against the Proteas. “Recently we beat them in Sharjah - 2-1, so we have that confidence in us, and we are not under pressure,” he said.
“We have played a lot of quality cricket in the last two years, and it's a good chance for us because the boys are very experienced, and these conditions are also suitable for us,” added the 30-year-old.
There has been a lot of buzz created around not playing in Afghanistan as the Taliban regime in their country discriminates against women. South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie had even said that if it were up to him, his cricket team would boycott their match against the Afghans.
However, the Afghanistan team is not bothered about the outside noise.
“I think as a sportsman our job is to play cricket, and we don't care what's going on outside. We only control things inside the ground. Everyone knows that we are playing well and especially in the last three years our performance on the ground is very good,” Shahidi answered a question about boycott calls.