Gurbaz Out, Ibrahim Zadran To Get New Partner? Afghanistan's Probable XI vs Australia

Gurbaz to be dropped? [Source: AP Photo]

Afghanistan did the unthinkable and defeated England in the match of the Champions Trophy 2025 to keep their semi-finale hopes alive. After losing to South Africa, the Afghan side were the favourites to get eliminated, but they showed a spirited performance and knocked England out of the competition.

Top-order batter, Ibrahim Zadran played the innings of his life and slammed a brilliant 177 off 146 balls as his team posted a competitive 325/7 on the board. In reply, England lost a flurry of wickets and were never really in the hunt as they lost the game by 8 runs.

Joe Root slammed his 17th ODI ton and was the lone warrior as England bowed out of the tournament without a win. Now, the Afghan side have a bigger challenge in the form of Australia and the game is a virtual knockout. Ahead of the game we look at Afghanistan's probable XI for the clash.

Will Afghanistan drop out of form Gurbaz?

Rahmanullah Gurbaz Champions Trophy stats thus far

Just 16 runs in 2 matches with an average of 8, these are Rahmanullah Gurbaz's numbers in the ongoing Champions Trophy clash. He looked rusty against the pace and bounce of the South African pacers in the first match and then lacked the cutting-edge Vs England in the last match.

Who can replace Gurbaz?

Ikram Alikhil is the only viable option left to replace Gurbaz in the side. The keepe-batter, though, has mediocre ODI stats as he has scored 384 runs in 32 ODI matches, with a strike-rate of 67.73.

Afghanistan is generally known as a side which backs its key players and the team is highly unlikely to drop Gurbaz, especially in this crucial do-or-die match Vs a strong Australian side. Hence, Gurbaz will retain its place as the batting lineup will remain the same.

Any other changes?

Fazalhaq Farooqi carried a niggle during the England clash, but he looked fine towards the end of the match and delivered the goods with the ball as well. If he is fit, Afghanistan will go in with the same side and no other changes are expected from the high-flying side.

Afghanistan probable XI Vs Australia

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

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