LAHORE, FEB 12 (DNA): The Afghanistan cricket team on Wednesday reached Lahore to participate in the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan and UAE from February 19 to March 9.

Led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, it is Afghanistan Men’s maiden participation in the eight-team ICC marquee event. The other teams include England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh, India and hosts Pakistan.

Afghanistan cricket team will play its first match of the CT25 against South Africa at National Cricket stadium, Karachi on February 21 while the other two matches will be played against England and Australia at Lahore’s iconic Gaddafi stadium.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan team also swapped injured spinner AM Ghazanfar with left-arm spinner Nangyal Kharoti to finalize its squad for the CT 25.

Afghanistan squad:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharote, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran. Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Bilal Sami.