England's hopes of progressing in the Champions Trophy 2025 were dashed with Afghanistan's thrilling win over Jos Buttler-led side on February 26. Brave Afghanistan put on a show to gun down the mighty England by 8 runs in a high-scoring thriller in Lahore to eliminate Jos Buttler's brigade. England had entered the match seeking redemption after an initial loss to Australia, but Afghanistan, having themselves suffered a setback against South Africa, proved to be formidable opponents.
After Ibrahim Zadran's record-breaking century, Afghanistan rode on Azmatullah Omarzai's magical fifer to defend a target of 326 runs. England, despite a valiant effort by Joe Root, were bowled out for 317 in 49.5 overs. Joe Root's century, a well-crafted 120 off 111 balls, provided a glimmer of hope for England, but the Afghan bowling attack, which also featured a two-wicket contribution from Mohammad Nabi, ultimately prevailed.
Sunil Gavaskar's tit-for-tat reply to England after Champions Trophy elimination
Afghanistan's imposing total of 325/7 was anchored by Ibrahim Zadran's towering 177 runs off 146 deliveries. England's Jofra Archer managed to secure three wickets, but Zadran's dominant performance set a challenging target.
Following England's elimination at the Gaddafi Stadium, Indian cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar fired a strong reply to England following Buttler's 'unique tournament' remark. Earlier Buttler took a jibe at Indian Team by claiming that India have an advantage in the Champions Trophy as they are playing their every match on the same venue. In a firm reply, Gavaskar stated that England have a tendency to place blame rather than concentrate on self-improvement. He further implied that England would likely attribute their struggles to India, citing the fact that Rohit Sharma's team played all their matches in Dubai, thus highlighting a perceived pattern of externalizing responsibility instead of addressing internal shortcomings.
“They will still come and start moaning the next morning. See they cannot lose. If they lose there has to be an excuse and the excuse cannot be that they weren’t better that day or the other team was better, they will start blaming everything,” he said, on the Dressing Room show.
“They will start blaming India also because India are playing all their matches in Dubai and why are we not playing our matches at one venue,” Gavaskar concluded.
Due to ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan, Team India team did not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. Instead, the International Cricket Council (ICC) facilitated India's participation by allowing them to play all their matches at a neutral venue, which was designated as Dubai.
Meanwhile, India and New Zealand are the only two team who have qualified for the Champions Trophy. Meanwhile, England, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the three teams whose respective campaign at the eight-team tournament has ended.
