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An irritated Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi dismissed reminders of Glenn Maxwell’s 2023 double-hundred, emphasizing their focus on the entire Australian team for the 2025 clash.
Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (AP Photo)
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi wasn’t too impressed by being reminded of Glenn Maxwell‘s special double-hundred against his team in the 2023 World Cup ahead of their clash with Australia in the 2025 Champions Trophy on Friday. Shahidi said that knock was ‘part of history’ now and Afghanistan was not in Pakistan ‘only to play with Maxwell’ and instead, was preparing for the ‘entire Australian team’.
Maxwell rescued Australia from 91/7 in chase of 292 with a once-in-a-generation knock of 201 (128). The knock helped Australia beat Afghanistan in the race for the semi-finals and they eventually went on to win the title by beating hosts India in Ahmedabad. The Champions Trophy state is set similarly, with Friday’s league stage match at the Gadaffi Stadium being a virtual quarter-final.
“You think we will come only to play with Maxwell? Do you think it will be like that? We have planned for the entire Australian team, and I know that he (Maxwell) played really well in the 2023 World Cup, but that’s part of history,” an agitated Shahidi said at the pre-match press conference.
“After that, we beat them in T20 World Cup, and we think about all (the entire) opposition team. We are not coming to the ground with plan for individual players. We will try our best to come with the planning, and we are not playing only Maxwell – we are playing Australia,” Shahidi said.
Afghanistan lost their first group-stage match against South Africa but came back with a roaring eight-run win against England on Wednesday at the Gadaffi Stadium. Australia, meanwhile, also beat England by five wickets but their match against South Africa was washed out due to rain.
Shahidi and Co. have a good chance against a depleted Australian side, which is without its entire first-choice pace attack, to reach the semi-final in its first year in the competition.
“I think it will be a good game for cricket, and our focus will be to keep things simple and don’t worry much about playing semifinal. We will try to do our basics well,” the Afghanistan skipper said.
This will be only the fifth ODI between the two teams. Australia have won all the previous four.
- Location :
Lahore, Pakistan
