Afghan players brush off Champions Trophy boycott calls

Politicians in England and South Africa urged their cricket authorities to forfeit the Champions Trophy group games against Afghanistan because of the Taliban's ban on women's sport and erosion of women's rights.

South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie said that if the ultimate decision was his, then the South Africa-Afghanistan match "certainly would not happen." 

But it's scheduled to go ahead on Friday in Karachi, as is the Afghanistan-England game next Wednesday in Lahore.

"As a sportsman, our job is to play cricket and we don't care what's going on outside of the cricket," Shahidi said on Thursday.

"We only control things inside the ground, so that's our job and other things cannot put us under pressure."

Afghanistan's last group game is against Australia on February 28 in Lahore, and their record in recent major tournaments give them hope of an upset or two.

They beat England and Pakistan at the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023, and both Australia and New Zealand to reach the 20-over World Cup semi-finals last year. Afghanistan have also won their last four one-day international series, including against South Africa last September.

"We are definitely 100 percent looking to win this event because we've played a lot of quality cricket for the last two years," Shahidi said. 

"It's a good chance for us because the boys are very experienced and these conditions also suit us … hopefully we start with a win and we go with the same momentum throughout the tournament."

Shahidi also hoped there will be sizeable support for his team at the newly upgraded National Bank Stadium in Karachi.

"A lot of Afghans live here and, last time in the Asia Cup, we saw some Afghan fans coming here. I know that a lot of Pashtuns also live here in Pakistan and hopefully the stadium will be full."

Australian Associated Press