Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s innings against UAE saw him fall just six runs short of the India record for highest score in a youth one-day match, held by Ambati Rayudu
Shashank Kishore12-Dec-2025
Vaibhav Suryavanshi hit nine fours and 14 sixes in his innings•MB Media/Getty Images
Vaibhav Suryavanshi slammed a blistering 95-ball 171 in the Under-19 Asia Cup opener against UAE Under-19s on Friday. He fell just six short of Ambati Rayudu’s long-standing India record in youth one-dayers – the 177 against England in Taunton back in 2002.Suryavanshi, yet to turn 15, hit nine fours and 14 sixes during his innings, before being bowled attempting a paddle in the 33rd over of India Under-19s’ innings. They eventually finished with 433 for 6 after being put in to bat. In response, UAE could only manage 199 for 7, leading to a 234-run win for India and a Player of the Match award for Suryavanshi.Last month, Suryavanshi had smashed a 42-ball 144 – the joint-third-fastest century by an Indian in men’s T20s – against UAE at the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha. He had got to his century off 32 deliveries that day, in the process recording the joint-sixth-fastest century in all men’s T20s.Suryavanshi – a certainty to feature in next month’s Under-19 World Cup in Namibia and Zimbabwe – also recently slammed an unbeaten 61-ball 108 at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to become the youngest century-maker in the tournament’s history.He had a breakthrough year in 2025, when he became the youngest to slam an IPL century, for Rajasthan Royals (101 off 38 balls) against Gujarat Titans. Having made history just a few months earlier – by becoming the youngest pick in an IPL auction at 13 – Suryavanshi featured in seven games in the 2025 edition, all as an opener. He made 252 runs at a strike rate of 206.55.After IPL 2025, he was part of the India Under-19 squads that toured England and Australia. He smashed a 78-ball century in the first four-day fixture in Brisbane, and finished as the second-highest run-getter of the multi-day series against Australia Under-19s, scoring 133 runs in three innings as India won 2-0.Prior to that, he had amassed 355 runs at a strike rate of 174.01 in the one-dayers against England Under-19s.
Nishan Madushka, Nuwanidu Fernando and Milan Rathnayake are some of the other prominent names in the squad
Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Nov-2025Left-arm spinning allrounder Dunith Wellalage will lead Sri Lanka A in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Rising Stars T20 tournament, in Doha later this month.Also in the squad are legspinners Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Sahan Arachchige, allrounders Milan Rathnayake and Ramesh Mendis, and top-order batters Nuwanidu Fernando and Nishan Madushka, and seamer Pramod Madushan.Though none of the players in this squad have consistent places in the senior XI, Wellalage, Nuwanidu, and Madushka have all played white-ball cricket for Sri Lanka in the last few months. Rathnayake also played in Sri Lanka’s most recent Test series, against Bangladesh in June. Madushan has not played for Sri Lanka since 2024.Elsewhere in the squad is 20-year-old batting allrounder Vishen Halambage, who has been called up to the Sri Lanka senior squad, though has yet to play a match for the national team. Ramesh Mendis, meanwhile, last played for Sri Lanka in February this year, in a Test against Australia.ACC Rising Stars tournament schedule
Nov 14 – Oman vs Pak; Ind vs UAE Nov 15 – Ban vs HK; Afg vs SL Nov 16 – Oman vs UAE; Ind vs Pak Nov 17 – HK vs SL; Afg vs Ban Nov 18 – Pak vs UAE; Ind vs Oman Nov 19 – Afg vs HK; Ban vs SL Nov 21 – Semi-finals: A1 vs B2; B1 vs A2 Nov 23 – Final
Viyaskanth, 23, has also been on the fringes of the national team for several years, though the presence of Wanindu Hasaranga, and more recently Jeffrey Vandersay, has kept him out. He has continued to do well domestically however, including in the recent SLC T20 competition – the top T20 domestic tournament this year, in the absence of the postponed Lanka Premier League.The Rising Stars tournament begins on November 14. Sri Lanka A play Afghanistan A, Hong Kong, and Bangladesh A in the group stage. Group B comprises India A, Oman, Pakistan A and UAE. Two teams from each group will then qualify for the semi finals.Sri Lanka A squad for Rising Stars Asia Cup T20 tournamentDunith Wellalage (capt.), Vishen Halambage, Nishan Madushka (wk), Nuwanidu Fernando, Lasith Croospulle, Ramesh Mendis, Kavindu de Livera, Sahan Arachchige, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Pramod Madushan, Garuka Sanketh, Isitha Wijesundara, Milan Rathnayake, V Viyaskanth, Traveen Mathew
Chelsea are now ready to trigger the £44m release clause to sign an “unstoppable” striker, who has been in fantastic form so far this season.
Blues stepping up striker pursuit despite Delap scoring first goal
The Blues upgraded their forward line considerably during the summer, bringing in Joao Pedro and Liam Delap, and the latter is now finally off the mark in front of goal, having scored the third in the comprehensive 3-0 victory against Barcelona in the Champions League.
Pedro has been more prolific, chipping in with four goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, and the Brazilian has also displayed his versatility by featuring at both centre-forward and in attacking midfield.
With the former Brighton man able to play in a slightly deeper role, there may be room in the squad to bring in another, more natural centre-forward in the January transfer window, and the Blues are now stepping up their pursuit of a Bundesliga star.
That is according to a report from Spain, which states Chelsea are now ready to trigger the €50m (£44m) release clause in Serhou Guirassy’s Borussia Dortmund contract, having identified the striker as a priority target.
Manchester United are also in the race for Guirassy, who is open to a move to the Premier League, with Dortmund powerless to prevent a departure if one of the interested English clubs stumps up the requisite £44m.
The Guinean forward is enticed by the projects on offer at both Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, and his performances so far this season suggest he would be able to hit the ground running in the Premier League.
"Unstoppable" Guirassy tearing it up in the Bundesliga
Lauded as “unstoppable” by scout Antonio Mango, the 29-year-old has already amassed 13 goal contributions across all competitions this season, particularly catching the eye for Dortmund in the Champions League.
Serhou Guirassy’s key statistics 2025-26
Appearances
Goal contributions
Bundesliga
11
6
Champions League
5
6
DFB-Pokal
2
1
The France-born striker has averaged 0.61 non-penalty goals per 90 over the past year, which places him in the 86th percentile compared to other forwards, while he is also impressive in the air, placing in the 82nd percentile for aerials won, having averaged 3.48 per 90.
As such, the Dortmund star clearly has the talent to succeed in the Premier League, but there may be some concerns about his age, given that BlueCo are known for wanting to sign younger players, and he is set to turn 30 in March.
Chelsea considering £120m double deal to sign two players from the same club
They’ve now become ‘top targets’.
ByEmilio Galantini Nov 29, 2025
That said, with a potential title race on the cards, Guirassy could be a real difference-maker, and £44m would be a reasonable fee, given the level of his performances so far this season.
The final chunk of international action is winding down for the year, and that means Liverpool fans can get ready to see Arne Slot’s side back in action.
There is an air of uncertainty about the Reds at the moment. After all, they were thrashed out of the Etihad Stadium nearly two weeks ago, having put Real Madrid to the sword in the Champions League days before.
But we must look at the wider trend, and we must accept that Slot’s squad have lost five of their past six matches in the Premier League, and that has eliminated any hopes of retaining that hard-won title for the time being.
The season is still young, but whatever happens over the coming months, FSG will have accepted that a few deeper problems need to be solved.
Take, for example, Virgil van Dijk’s announcement that the 2026 World Cup will be his last for Oranje. That underlines the 34-year-old’s ageing legs, and his acceptance that soon – not yet, but soon – he will wind down.
And the same could be said of Mohamed Salah, who has not been himself this season. FSG and sporting director Richard Hughes are aware that Salah, 33, might be nearing the end at Anfield.
Liverpool begin search for Salah successor
Liverpool’s search for a Salah successor is tentative and new at this stage. The Egyptian star earns £400k per week on Merseyside after renewing his soon-to-expire contract in April, keeping him at the club until the end of next season.
After such staggering success last year, Salah’s drop-off in form has been painful to see, though circumstances have played a part, and the prolific winger is sure to rediscover his shooting boots at some point.
Goals scored
0.77
0.37
Assists
0.48
0.18
Shots taken
3.23
2.29
Shot-creating actions
4.51
3.11
Touches (att pen)
9.50
5.68
Pass completion (%)
70.6
68.7
Progressive passes
3.84
3.66
Progressive carries
4.14
3.66
Successful take-ons
1.55
0.64
Ball recoveries
2.70
2.84
Tackles won
0.29
0.18
But Liverpool do need to start drawing up plans, and Spanish sources suggest this is already in the running, with Hughes preparing a
€100m (equating to £88m) offer for Barcelona superstar Raphinha.
The Brazil international is a wanted man after his sensational 2024/25 campaign, with Atletico Madrid also keen.
However, Liverpool have more financial might and La Blaugrana’s interminable money worries could see a deal completed in 2026.
Why Liverpool want Raphinha
Raphinha, 28, is not a young, up-and-coming talent who can be shaped into a superstar over the next several years.
That’s because he’s already among football’s top brass, hailed as “the best player in the world” by Statman Dave for his herculean efforts in last year’s Champions League.
Last year, the former Leeds United ace produced Salah-esque numbers for Hansi Flick’s La Liga champions. He scored 34 goals and provided 26 assists across all competitions, and that haul saw him eclipse everyone else across Europe’s top five leagues in all competitions. No small feat that, especially when considering the season Liverpool’s talisman had.
Raphinha
57
34 + 26
Mohamed Salah
72
34 + 23
Harry Kane
46
38 + 13
Ousmane Dembele
49
33 + 15
Kylian Mbappe
55
42 + 4
He hasn’t quite hit the same awe-inspiring heights so far this season, but Raphinha has still made a commendable start to the campaign, notching five direct involvements from six league games.
A ready-made talent, Raphinha could prove the perfect replacement to Luis Diaz in Slot’s Liverpool, who was, of course, sold to Bayern Munich this summer for £66.5m.
Diaz, also 28, has been riding the crest of a gigantic wave in Germany this season, with six goals and four assists to his name in the Bundesliga, just nine games played, as well as three strikes from four in the Champions League. His all-round play has been spectacular, his impact sending tremors across Germany.
Away from the more emphatic side of his game, Diaz’s combative side has been sorely missed this term at Liverpool. Last season in the Premier League, he averaged more than one tackle per fixture. Moreover, journalist Neil Docking hailed him as “strong and a fighter” upon the announcement of his departure.
There is also the small matter of Raphinha’s Premier League experience. The Brazilian’s years at Elland Road fashioned in him a physicality and determination that are necessary for success in England. The struggle of Florian Wirtz in a Liverpool shirt underlines the difficulties of integration from overseas.
But, most crucially of all, Raphinha is a player whose skillset aligns with Liverpool’s former wideman. FBref’s data reveals that the Barca man ranks among the top 2% of positional peers across Europe over the past year for goals and assists combined, and then the top 9% for shot-creating actions per 90 too.
This has seen Diaz recorded as one of his most comparable players. Diaz is incredibly prolific in front of goal, and like Raphinha, he observed his fleet-footed quality, not running about with the same intensity and frequency as someone like Jeremy Doku, but instead being economical in his advancements.
Liverpool need something different in attack, and with Salah winding down, Wirtz struggling to make his mark at this stage, and Diaz now plying his craft elsewhere, the dynamic and versatile Raphinha would be a stunning addition. If Liverpool can capitalise on Barcelona’s financial plight, they must do so.
Bigger mistake than Quansah: Liverpool sold their next Gravenberch for £15m
Liverpool made a bigger mistake than offloading Jarell Quansah when they got rid of their own Ryan Gravenberch for just £15m.
The beauty of sports—especially sports played in big cities with multiple professional teams—is that fanbases of teams across different leagues come together to embrace big moments when one team is on a special run. Such an instance occurred during Game 1 of the World Series, the ending of which coincided with the Phoenix Suns' game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Dodger Stadium and the city of Los Angeles were positively buzzing Friday night after star first baseman Freddie Freeman belted a walk-off grand slam to power the Los Angeles Dodgers to victory. And the energy and enthusiasm spread into the Crypto.com Arena, where replays on the video scoreboard showed Freeman's dramatic walk-off.
The arena erupted into cheers.
But it wasn't just the fans who were tuned into the incredible moment. Television cameras caught Suns guard Bradley Beal's amusing reaction to Freeman's grand slam.
That face expression is priceless. Beal was one of several players who found themselves lost in the World Series moment, despite the fact that they were in the middle of a game themselves.
"That s–t was crazy," Lakers star forward Anthony Davis told reporters when asked about Freeman's walk-off. "I was actually like checked-out for a second and looked up. (Forward) LeBron (James) was just listening, the way the ball sounded when he hit it, it was… yeah."
Davis added a "Go Dodgers" for good measure.
Meanwhile, it didn't take long for Lakers' first-year coach JJ Redick, whose team started slow out of the gate Friday night, to figure out why the fans at Crypto.com Arena were cheering.
"With my deductive reasoning, I figured it was only one thing," Redick deadpanned. "That the Dodgers won."
Friday night was a good night overall for Los Angeles sports. The Dodgers took Game 1 and the Lakers stormed back from a 22-point deficit to defeat the Suns.
Bangladesh’s fast-bowling coach also backed “young superstar” Nahid Rana to come good despite having an off day
Mohammad Isam19-Jun-2025
Taijul Islam provided Bangladesh with the first breakthrough•Ishara S Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images
Bangladesh’s fast-bowling coach Shaun Tait feels that his seamers could not make the best use of the first new ball against Sri Lanka on the third day of the Galle Test.After Bangladesh finished their first innings on 495, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana opened the bowling but couldn’t make a breakthrough. Mahmud bowled six overs with the new ball and Rana seven in two short spells as Bangladesh had a fast bowler operating from one end till the 20th over. But it was Taijul Islam who got the first wicket, in the 13th. By stumps, Sri Lanka had sped to 368 for 4, reducing the deficit to 127.”It is a good batting wicket, and it was difficult conditions for fast bowlers today,” Tait said. “They toiled hard. They gave effort. We could have started better with the first new ball. We probably missed out. They know that. That’s all you can ask for. You bowl on a different day on a different wicket, you get a different result. We batted for two days. It is one of those good batting wickets.Related
Nissanka 187 leads SL's strong reply to Bangladesh's 495
“I think they batted really well. Sri Lanka are no pushovers. This is the team that was competing for the WTC final. They are a good side with good batters. The pacers missed a trick with the new ball. It would have been nice if they had taken a couple of wickets with the new ball but I am not going to be negative.”Sri Lanka forced the issue, particularly Pathum Nissanka with a career-best 187. He struck 23 fours and a six in his 256-ball stay. The Galle pitch typically starts helping spinners from the third day but that was not the case in this Test.”I think the wicket is pretty good,” he said. “It hasn’t changed a great deal. Today was a good batting day, we saw that. It probably hasn’t spun as much as maybe people thought it would on the third day.Pathum Nissanka’s century was his third in Test cricket•Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images
“Normally, Galle starts to turn a bit more. It turned a little but nothing significant. There are still a couple of days left. Test cricket can change pretty quickly. There’s hard work to be done.”With Mehidy Hasan Miraz out with illness, Bangladesh played just four frontline bowlers, which has made their task difficult. Rana, who is playing only his eighth Test, was particularly expensive as he tried to bowl attacking lines and lengths. He went for 80 from his 16 wicketless overs, but Tait said it was up to him to work with the youngster.”Anyone who bowls that pace should get the new ball from time to time,” he said. “I don’t know, going forward, who is going to take the new ball. This is my first Test [as fast-bowling coach]. We have two fast bowlers. He has to take the new ball. He is absolutely fine [taking the new ball].”It is early in his career. He burst onto the scene. There’s a lot of attention and expectation on him. I don’t know if Bangladesh have ever had a fast bowler as exciting as him. There’s a little bit of pressure on him from the media and public. It is up to me to work through that with him as the bowling coach. It is not just about the bowling all the time. It is also how you deal with the extra pressure of being a young superstar.”Towards the end of the day, Mahmud made some amends by dismissing Nissanka with the second new ball. He set up Nissanka with the one that went away before bowling him through the gate with a big inswinger.”He struck the middle stump – it was a good ball,” Tait said. “You have to take little wins to the shed on this wicket. At the end of the day, it is a positive.”
While they are still in the relegation zone, things are starting to look up for West Ham United.
In his first game in the dugout, Nuno Espírito Santo oversaw a spirited fightback that saw the Hammers pick up a point away to Everton.
Moreover, while they lost against Arsenal, they were not blown away as they probably would’ve been under Graham Potter.
However, there is still more to come from the side, and while Jarrod Bowen continues to impress whenever he is on the pitch, another West Ham player could get back to his best and in the process become Nuno’s new Morgan Gibbs-White.
Changes Nuno can make for the next game
While it will take some time for Nuno’s tactical changes and philosophy to really sink into the side, there are a few changes he could make ahead of the next game that may lead to some instant results.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
For example, while at his best, he can be a fulcrum for the attack, it might be time for Niclas Füllkrug to be taken out of the team, as he offered no threat whatsoever in the last two games.
Moreover, against the Toffees, he managed to lose ten of his 14 aerial duels, so on top of not worrying opposition defences, he’s also not holding the ball up enough.
Füllkrug’s West Ham career
Season
24/25
25/26
Appearances
20
7
Minutes
877′
385′
Goals
3
0
Assists
2
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.25
0.00
Minutes per Goal Involvement
175.4′
N/A
All Stats via Transfermarkt
In place of the German, Callum Wilson could be given a start, or if the manager wants to be bold, he might go for an academy player like Callum Marshall or maybe even Josh Landers.
Another change that might be worth making is in the six position, as while Soungoutou Magassa is undoubtedly talented, he is clearly still adapting to the pace and power of the league.
The Frenchman only completed ten passes against the Gunners, lost Declan Rice for the opener, and lost three of four duels.
So, with a home game against Brentford after the international break coming up, it might be the perfect opportunity to hand Freddie Potts his first start for the club, as in his half an hour at the Emirates, he looked reasonably impressive.
However, while these changes might have a moderate impact in the short term, Nuno could see a more significant impact should one of West Ham’s best players rediscover his best form, someone who could become his new Gibbs-White.
The West Ham star who could be Nuno's new Gibbs-White
While Bowen will undoubtedly continue to be the superstar of this team, the player who could end up being a Gibbs-White style star for Nuno is Lucas Paqueta.
The former Lyon gem hasn’t been at his best in every game this season, but when he’s on track and things are going his way, it’s easy to see how he could have a similar impact on the team that the Englishman did at Nottingham Forest.
At his best under his former manager, the Tricky Trees’ talisman was a silky attacking midfielder who was as capable of scoring a sensational goal as he was of creating them for his teammates.
For example, in 38 games last season, totalling 3142 minutes, he racked up a tally of seven goals and ten assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.23 games, or every 184.82 minutes.
Now, while the Irons’ Brazilian “magician,” as dubbed by journalist Josh Bunting, hasn’t quite hit numbers like that since moving to East London, he has gotten reasonably close before.
For example, in 23/24, he chalked up an impressive tally of eight goals and seven assists in 43 games, totalling 3478 minutes.
That came out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.86 games, or every 231.86 minutes.
Now, if the 28-year-old was able to put up numbers like that in the past, there is no reason he can’t do so again, especially with Nuno in charge, who has a track record of getting more out of his attackers.
Finally, the last reason Paqueta could become West Ham’s own Gibbs-White is that, when confident, he is, as talent scout Jacke Kulig puts it, a “pure joy to watch,” and that is how many a Forest fan would likely describe their talismanic midfielder.
WestHamUnited's LucasPaquetacelebrates scoring their second goal with Callum Wilso
Ultimately, this could be a long season for West Ham as they look to get back to their best. However, if the manager can utilise his star midfielder in the same way as his last one, it might not be so bad.
Nuno can drop Fullkrug & Wilson for West Ham's 20-year-old "goalscorer"
The promising youngster could be Nuno’s answer to his Füllkrug & Wilson problem at West Ham.
Wales and Leeds United goalkeeper Karl Darlow hopes to end his Wembley heartache against England – the country he once wanted to represent.
The Leeds stopper has twice been denied playing under the Wembley arch by red tape, at Newport in 2012 and in the 2023 Carabao Cup final for Newcastle.
Darlow was on loan from Nottingham Forest when he missed out on Newport’s FA Trophy final against York. The Exiles had failed to sign the then 21-year-old before the international clearance deadline and subsequently lost an appeal, claiming a paperwork delay was not their fault.
Over a decade later, Newcastle were unable to recall Darlow from a loan spell at Hull after Nick Pope had been ruled out of a Wembley date against Manchester United.
“I’ve been slightly unfortunate and it would be nice to finally tick it (Wembley) off the list.” Darlow said ahead of Wales’ friendly with England on Thursday.
“The Newport one was on the morning of the final. They were still waiting on confirmation and the manager Justin Edinburgh was optimistic it was going to be done.
“In the end I wasn’t even allowed to be part of the matchday squad and I watched the game in the stands. I’m 35 on Wednesday, so it’s been a long time coming.
“It’s one of the biggest and the best stadiums in the world. As a footballer you want to be playing in the biggest stadiums and testing yourself on that level.”
Darlow’s grandfather Ken Leek was a member of the 1958 Wales World Cup squad that reached the quarter-finals of the competition.
Darlow once wanted to represent England over Wales
But Darlow was born in Northampton and grew up with aspirations to represent England, saying in a previous interview there “would be no bigger achievement”.
Having rejected previous attempts from Wales managers to get him on board, Craig Bellamy persuaded him to join up last year and he has since established himself as the number one goalkeeper and won eight caps.
Darlow enters the international break – Wales also play a crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium in Cardiff on Monday – having started Leeds’ last four Premier League games.
He has taken over the gloves from the injured Lucas Perri and been in fine form, with one of his stops at Fulham nominated for September’s Premier League Save of the Month award.
“If you’re drip-fed a game here and a game there, it’s tough,” said Darlow.
“You like to get into a rhythm of playing week in, week out and knowing you can prepare properly for each and every single game
“It’s a massive plus that I’ve had a run of games now.”
Copenhagen confirmed that after an MRI, Rodrigo Huescas has been diagnosed with a torn ACL. The former Cruz Azul fullback will miss the rest of the season and faces a race against time to be fit for the 2026 World Cup. The injury occurred 13 minutes into Copenhagen’s Champions League clash against Qarabag. Huescas went down in clear pain.
AFP
Tough loss for El Tri
Huescas, one of Mexico’s brightest young players and the country’s only representative in this season’s Champions League, faces the possibility of missing the 2026 World Cup after Copenhagen revealed the full extent of his injury.
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AFP
Playing at his peak
Huescas was enjoying the best moment of his career. Since leaving Cruz Azul for Denmark in 2024, he had quickly become a standout performer for Copenhagen and a key figure in Javier Aguirre’s plans with the Mexican national team. Now, his future is clouded by uncertainty as El Tri lose a vital option on the right flank.
Getty Images Sport
World Cup in jeopardy
Huescas now faces the harsh reality that an ACL tear typically requires between six and nine months of recovery. That timeline would make it almost impossible for him to be fit for the World Cup opener on June 11.
It completely re-routes what had been shaping up to be a breakout phase of his young career, just as he had cemented his place with El Tri.
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Who can replace him?
With Huescas sidelined, the door could open for Jorge Sánchez or Julián Araujo to step in and claim a spot on Mexico’s right flank as the World Cup approaches.
Afghanistan captain exudes confidence ahead of the team’s first game in the Champions Trophy, against South Africa
ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-20254:25
Shahidi hopes cricket somehow goes to Afghanistan ‘soon’
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi is confident of beating South Africa on their Champions Trophy debut in Karachi on February 21, especially after having defeated them 2-1 in the ODI series in Sharjah last year. It was also Afghanistan’s first ODI series win against a top-five ranked nation.”Between 2019 and now there’s too much difference and just recently we beat them [South Africa] in Sharjah – 2-1 – so we have that confidence with us and we are not under pressure anyway,” Shahidi said at his press conference on Thursday. “Because right now we are focusing what we can do in this tournament and I believe that our team is more ready for this tournament and we are focusing on our own team. There is no pressure on us.”While Afghanistan will be without teenaged mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar, who has been sidelined from the entire tournament with injury, they have enough spin depth in the form of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi and Nangeylia Kharote. Afghanistan will also have support from the Karachi crowd.”First of all, about people here – there are a lot of Afghans,” Shahidi said. “They live here in Karachi and in Pakistan and also a lot of Pashtun people, I think, they support us. So yeah, yesterday there was a lot of crowds shouting for us [during training] and it feels good and it give us confidence that we have supporters here and about our performance.”Related
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This will be Afghanistan’s first-ever appearance in the Champions Trophy, but Shahidi made it clear that they are not here to make up the numbers and that their goal is to win the title. Afghanistan can draw confidence from their performances in the recent global tournaments: in the 2024 T20 World Cup, they made the semi-finals while earlier in the 2023 ODI World Cup, they had booked a sixth-place finish and with that a spot in this Champions Trophy.”We are doing very good and, in this tournament, we are here to compete here and our aim is to win the final,” Shahidi said. “We are not here just to participate here in this tournament. We are definitely 100% looking to win this event and at the same time because we played a lot of quality cricket from last two years and it’s a good chance for us because the boys are very experienced and these conditions are also suitable for us. So we have a good chance and let’s start it from tomorrow and hopefully we start with the win and we go with the same momentum throughout the tournament.”Temba Bavuma, the South Africa captain, said his team won’t be underestimating Afghanistan, but having played them in September means South Africa have idea of what to expect.* “Yeah, highly competitive team, Afghanistan. I think they’ve got a lot of experience within their team. Guys who have that international pedigree at least from a skill point of view,” Bavuma said on match eve. “Like you said, we played against them mid to late last year and they were victorious, so they won’t be short of any type of confidence coming into the game tomorrow.”[But] we’ve also had a good look at them – I think probably a similar team that we played against in Sharjah that will be coming again. So, I guess we kind of know what to expect.”Bavuma said the challenge for his bowlers in this tournament would be to keep their discipline on batting-friendly tracks. “I think in terms of the conditions here, we’ve had a nice look at what to expect. Probably batter-friendly wickets and I think quite a nice challenge for the bowlers. Our challenge as a bowling unit is to be one of the more disciplined and precise bowling units. I guess always look for opportunities to take wickets.”From a batting point of view, scoreboard pressure is a big thing. Guys getting in, making sure they go get big so we can challenge for those 330-340-350 type of scores.”Shahidi on playing in Afghanistan: ‘Hopefully that day comes’Afghanistan haven’t had a dedicated home venue and since June 2017, when they were granted Full-Member status, they have played their home internationals in the three major cities of the UAE, in Dehradun, Lucknow and Greater Noida in India (which was also home before they became a Full Member). Shahidi, though, talked up the cricketing facilities and domestic cricket in Afghanistan, hoping to play international cricket in country in the near future.”I have answered this in Pashto but let me say it again because in media I heard a lot from other countries that they [Afghanistan] don’t have facilities, they don’t have stadiums, they don’t have academies. It’s totally wrong,” Shahidi said. “We have good facilities. We have cricket academies. We have High Performance Centre in Kabul and Jalalabad and also, we have stadiums in every zone of Afghanistan. So, we have the facilities to call a team to come to Afghanistan but in our country there were some security issues that’s why other countries are not coming but hopefully soon, as soon as possible, one of the countries will come to Afghanistan and you will see the crowd also.”When we play domestic cricket, it’s fully packed. Even people wait outside the stadium and try to come and watch the domestic game, like more than 50,000, 40,000 or 30,000 people coming for the finals of an event. I know that if any team come to Afghanistan, there will be like thousands of people, fans come and arrive to the stadium because there is a lot of craze for cricket. There are a lot of people who love cricket. So hopefully that day comes and hopefully it comes soon.”