Recently after Afghanistan came out victorious against England in their Champions trophy encounter, legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar expressed his delight towards this victory and had some kind words to say for the Afghanistan team. Sachin, who is currently playing and captaining the India masters team in the IML (Indian Masters League) T20 wasn’t the only one to shower praises for the Afghanistan team. Big names like Ravi Shastri, Shoaib Akhtar, Michael Vaughan also voiced their appreciation for the Afghanistan team after their performance against England.
"Afghanistan’s steady and consistent rise in international cricket has been inspiring! You can’t term their wins as upsets anymore, they’ve made this a habit now.’ Sachin wrote on his X post. Tendulkar also went on to praise the individual heroics of two Afghanistan players namely Ibhrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai.
Afghanista eye semi-final spot by defeating Australia
Afghanistan got an all important victory against England on 26th February in the Champions Trophy to keep alive their hopes for qualification into the semi-finals. Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first but were reduced to 37/3 within the first powerplay. Then a mammoth inning of 177 from Ibrahim Zadran helped Afghanistan put up 325 on the scoreboard for England to chase. England’s Joe Root scored 120 in 111 deliveries keeping Enlgand alive in the game but the fall of subsequent wickets saw the game slipping away from England. The England team was all-out for 317 with 1 ball to spare. Azmatullah Omarzai was the star of the Afghanistan bowling show; picking up a fifer.
This victory means that Afghanistan are now placed third in their group of the Champions Trophy, one point behind Australia and South Africa. Their final group-stage match against Australia will play a massive role in deciding whether they can make it into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.
