Afghanistan will lock horns against England in the eighth match of the ongoing Champions Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Wednesday. It will be a must-win game for both these teams after they lost their opening game of the tournament.

While Afghanistan suffered a 107-run loss against South Africa, England suffered a five-wicket loss against arch-rivals Australia. We look at the current form, head-to-head, players to look out for, and squads of both teams in our match preview.

Current form of England: L L L L W

England lost their previous match against the Aussies despite posting 351 runs on the board. Ben Duckett scored a fine knock of 165 runs but his knock went in vain as the bowlers could not keep Australia at bay, especially the English pacers disappointed with their performance.

Current form of Afghanistan: L W W NR W

Afghanistan will need to come up with an improved show against England as they were not at their best against the Proteas. The experienced players need to step up for Hashmatullah Shahidi’s team. 

Head to Head: Matches: 3, Won by England: 2, Won by Afghanistan: 1.

Afghanistan had stunned England by 69 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Players to watch out for: Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Ben Duckett, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid, and Jofra Archer will be the crucial players for England.

Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Azmatullah Omarzai will hold the key for Afghanistan.

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

England: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.