Due To A Fracture, Afghanistan’s Allah Ghazanfar Ruled Out Of Champions Trophy 2025
Allah Ghazanfar, Afghanistan’s young spin sensation, has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 due to a fracture in the L4 vertebra. The 18-year-old, who has 21 wickets in 11 ODIs, sustained the injury during Afghanistan’s recent tour of Zimbabwe and will be sidelined for at least four months. This injury also means he will miss the IPL 2025 season, where he was set to play for Mumbai Indians, who bought him for Rs 4.80 crore. NangyalKharoti, initially a reserve, will replace Ghazanfar in the Champions Trophy squad.
Ghazanfar’s absence is a blow to Afghanistan, especially considering Mujeeb Ur Rahman is also still recovering from an injury. In Ghazanfar’s absence, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi, and Allah Ghazanfar will need to step up.
Afghanistan will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa on February 21 in Karachi, followed by matches against England and Australia. Ghazanfar’s accuracy and variations would have been valuable on the flat decks in Pakistan, and his unfamiliarity to teams like Australia and England could have been an advantage.
Afghanistan’s updated squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025: HashmatullahShahidi ©, Ibrahim Zadran, RahmanullahGurbaz (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, IkramAlikhil, GulbadinNaib, AzmatullahOmarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, NangyalKharoti, Noor Ahmad, FazalhaqFarooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran.