Champions Trophy: Younis Khan to mentor Afghanistan in their maiden appearance in tournament
The ICC Champions Trophy is set to return next month after eight years, with the last edition played in 2017. Pakistan are the hosts of the tournament even as Afghanistan are set to make their maiden appearance in the Champions Trophy.
Afghanistan have appointed former Pakistan captain Younis Khan as their mentor for the upcoming edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. He previously served as the batting coach of the team in 2022. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) official confirmed the development on Wednesday (January 8).
"ACB has assigned former experienced top order Pakistani player Younis Khan as Mentor for Champions Trophy 2025. He (Younis) will join the team before the event starts in Pakistan," Sayeed Naseem Sadat, the spokesman of ACB, told Cricbuzz. Afghanistan will feature in the Champions Trophy for the first time in their cricket history after being impressive in the ODI World Cup in India in 2023. They finished in the top 8 of the table in the mega event to qualify directly for the Champions Trophy.
As for Younis Khan, he played 118 Tests, 265 ODIs and 25 T20Is scoring 10099, 7249 and 442 runs respectively. He also led Pakistan to its maiden T20 World Cup title in 2009. After hanging his boots, Younis took up several coaching roles including the batting coach of the Pakistan team in a short stint. He worked with the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Peshawar Zalmi and was also the head coach of the Bangla Tigers in Abu Dhabi T210 League.
Coming back to Afghanistan, they are part of Group B in the Champions Trophy alongside Australia, England and South Africa. They will start their campaign in the tournament against South Africa on February 21 at the National Stadium in Karachi before facing England at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore on February 26. In their final group stage clash, Afghanistan will face world champions Australia on February 28 in Lahore.