Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, and Pakistan could not make it to the top four of the 2025 Champions Trophy. Here is our XI from the four teams.
Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan)
M: 3 | 216 runs at 72, SR 106, HS: 177, 1 hundred
Ibrahim’s cameos against South Africa and Australia were nipped in the bud, but sandwiched between them was an innings that etched his name in the annals of the Champions Trophy. Not only did the 177 break a plethora of records but it was the brand of sustained aggression that defined ODI batting in its golden days. Afghanistan did not make it to the top four, but the fans will remember Ibrahim.
Ben Duckett (England)
M: 3 | 227 runs at 75.67, SR 109, HS: 165, 1 hundred
Duckett’s 165 against Australia was the record score in the Champions Trophy – for all of four days, until Ibrahim surpassed it. He then had two more cameos. England left the Champions Trophy without a single point, but Duckett’s rich vein of form and stroke-play, against both pace and spin, were among their major takeaways.
Joe Root (England)
M: 3 | 225 runs at 75, SR 97, HS: 120, 1 hundred, 1 fifty | 11-0-73-0
At 34, Root demonstrated why he can still walk into the England ODI side. He hit a fifty against Australia; against Afghanistan, he made a hundred where he looked in control throughout, and kept England in until the very end; top-scored with 37 against South Africa; and chipped in with off-breaks to help England go in with four specialist bowlers throughout the tournament.
Towhid Hridoy (Bangladesh)
M: 2 | 107 runs at 53.50, SR 75, HS: 100, 1 hundred
Hridoy’s Champions Trophy began with a hundred that lifted Bangladesh from 35-5 to 228 against India, the only team to finish the league stage without dropping a point. He failed against New Zealand.
Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan)
M: 3 | 126 runs at 42, SR 104, HS: 67, 1 fifty | 7 wickets at 20.00, ec 6.72, BBI: 5-58, 1 five-for
The best cricketer of the league stage by some distance, Omarzai lit up the field with both bat and ball. He played a cameo against South Africa before exploding in the death overs against England and Australia. With the ball, he took five wickets against England and got a wicket in each of the other two games. It is difficult to improve on this.
Jaker Ali (Bangladesh – wicketkeeper)
M: 2 | 113 runs at 56.50, SR 67, HS: 68, 1 fifty
The keeper of this XI has not kept wicket in this tournament, but he dominated spin twice. In the first, he made 67 and helped Hridoy put on 154 for the sixth wicket (albeit with some help from Rohit Sharma). In the second, he came at 45 and helped double Bangladesh’s 118-5.
Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan – captain)
M: 3 | 49 runs at 16.33, SR 117, HS: 40 | 4 wickets at 30.25, ec 5.76, BBI: 2-51
The captain of this XI has not led in this tournament, either, but he is the best bet (Root has never led in an ODI). “The President” is forty, but is difficult to score off; gets wickets; and as England found out, can blast attacks out of his way. One can see why he is not very keen to retire yet.
Khushdil Shah (Pakistan)
M: 2 | 107 runs at 53.59, SR 122, HS: 69, 1 fifty | 1 wicket at 83, BBI: 1-43, ec 5.72
Twice in the tournament did Khushdil try to bring some momentum to curiously meandering Pakistan innings. As his strike rate suggests, he succeeded on both occasions (that too against strong attacks), but the burden of that sluggish top order became too much to bear.
Rishad Hossain (Bangladesh)
M: 2 | 44 runs at 22, SR 119, HS: 26 | 3 wickets at 32, BBI: 2-38, ec 5.00
Two of Rishad’s three wickets were of Virat Kohli and Rachin Ravindra. He went at five an over against two strong batting line-ups. And he hit three fours and three sixes in 38 balls. An automatic choice.
Jofra Archer (England)
M: 3 | 60 runs at 30, SR 122, HS: 25 | 6 wickets at 33.50, ec 6.93, BBI: 3-64
Archer came back strongly after being taken apart by the Australians to strike thrice against Afghanistan. Then, defending only 180, he bowled both South African openers. There were also mini-blitzes every time he walked out to bat.
Adil Rashid (England)
M: 3 | 3 wickets at 48.00, ec 5.33, BBI: 1-37
Rashid got a wicket in every game, in one of which he went at above six. Against Australia, in particular, he was excellent in the middle overs, and lacked spin support at the other end.
Substitute: Rain
Perhaps adding it to the Eliminated XI will help it stay away from the three knockout matches.
