Things have not looked great for Afghanistan in their opening match of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy against South Africa so far. About 30 overs have been played so far and the Afghan bowling attack has been unable to contain the South African batters, at the helm of which sits Ryan Rickleton, batting comfortably at 88*.
To add to Afghanistan’s troubles, their star all-rounder Rashid Khan seems to have injured himself off of his own delivery. The 26-year-old was seen in tremendous pain lying on the ground and needed medical assistance. Despite that, his situation did not seem to be that good and he hasn’t bowled after that (till now).
Rashid Khan is injured ball hits on his wrist. pic.twitter.com/vFXKHY2Kfc
— Tyson (@tyson18__) February 21, 2025
South Africa is one of the favorites in the tournament and it has shown in the way they have batted against the Afghans so far in this inning. Ryan Rickleton needs special praise for the way he has been playing against the bowling attack and he was even appreciated by retired Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on X.
“Ryan Rickleton is a fine player but the manner in which he is handling Rashid Khan is alluring,” he wrote on the app.
Ryan Rickleton is a fine player but the manner in which he is handling Rashid Khan is alluring👌 #ChampionsTrophy
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) February 21, 2025
Rashid Khan’s spin magic has clearly not been working on the 28-year-old, who has tremendous potential and can be one of the players to watch out for in this tournament. Apart from him, South African captain Temba Bavuma also did well with the bat. He scored 58 off 76 before being ticked off by Mohammad Nabi, the former Afghan captain.
It seems like Afghanistan’s new captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, has a lot to figure out if he plans to limit the South Africans to a chaseable total. Otherwise, Afghan batters are going to have a big task on their shoulders in the next inning.
Also Read: How Kerala reached the Final of the Ranji Trophy
