'Should open batting' - Gavaskar, Akram mock England's star player after Champions Trophy exit

England’s lookout of attaining a spot in the Champions Trophy 2025 collapsed on Wednesday, February 26, as Afghanistan (AFG) pulled off an impeccable triumph, strongly opposing a 326-run target. The 2019 World Cup winners suffered a terrible loss as they couldn't stand by the target because of losing wickets at regular intervals.

As a result, this led them to get knocked out of the Champions Trophy. Notably, despite Joe Root’s impressive 120 off 111 balls, England stood back, with no other batter crossing the run margin of 40 runs. Ben Duckett (38), Jos Buttler (38), and Jamie Overton (32) were the only notable contributors. Ultimately, England were bowled out, giving Afghanistan a memorable victory.

England’s lower order was put at stake with too much to do, and leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who has a great record of 10 first-class centuries, was under immense pressure to guide the team to an unlikely victory in the final two overs. However, he could only manage to score five runs off seven balls. In the same vein, former cricket legends Wasim Akram and Sunil Gavaskar shared a fun and lighthearted moment about Rashid’s first-class batting credentials. 

“Whenever I come into the commentary box, the stats guy keeps reminding me that Adil Rashid has 10 first-class hundreds. I’m sorry, Adil, but you didn’t look like a guy with 10 hundreds tonight," said Akram while talking on the Sports Central channel.

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“If he’s batting at No.9, how can he get a hundred? He should be opening the batting. Someone should tell England’s management—he has 10 centuries, he should be their opener!," Gavaskar stated while chiming in on the English batting lineup in the follow-up to Akram's remarks.  

Zadran's historic knock led Afghanistan to a formidable total

Meanwhile, speaking of the match, Afghanistan recovered from a shaky start to post a challenging total of 325 runs, credit to a record-breaking 177 off 146 balls by Ibrahim Zadran. As a result, the Afghan batter ended up scoring the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history surpassing Ben Duckett's record. Azmatullah Omarzai played a pivotal all-rounder role, smashing an impressive 41 off 31 balls before claiming a tremendous five-wicket haul to destroy England.