England Replace Carse With Overton As Afghanistan Opt To Bat

England have brought in fast-bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton in place of injured Brydon Carse for Match 8 of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against Afghanistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 26 (Wednesday). 

That’s the only change England have made to their team that lost to Australia, despite scoring 351 at the same venue. Afghanistan, who lost to South Africa by 107 runs, are unchanged.

Playing XIs for Afghanistan vs England

Afghanistan’s playing XI

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

England’s playing XI

Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

What did the captains say

Hashmatullah Shahidi - “We will bat first. The wicket looks good. Hopefully, it will spin in the second innings. And it might be slower as well. Sometimes the dew is coming and sometimes it is not. Hopefully, there won't be any dew and help our spinners. It might get slower for sure. We did not bowling in the good areas in the last game.”

Jos Buttler - “The dew came in last game and skidded on a bit under lights. We would have batted first as well. Looks a good wicket. Put in a good performance and get the victory. It came on to the bat nicely. We just got one change. Carse is out because of injury. Overton is in. Individual skills are very high. The expectations are very high. We always want to perform at our best. Would look to charge in today.”

Lahore pitch report for AFG vs ENG

“There is a bit of rain around today, with a 51 percent chance of rain. It is 67m to the off side and 70m to the leg side and 76m down the ground. The average score is more than 300 in the last 5 games. The wicket is hard. There is grass covering. The ball should come on to the bat nicely. It looks very similar to the last game, we suspected Lahore to be the highest-scoring venue amongst all and we had more than 700 runs in the England vs Australia game and this looks a very good pitch. Of all the Champion Trophy games, this pitch turned the least and that doesn’t work in favour of Afghanistan. Should be another high scoring game. The ball will come nicely on to the bat. The bowlers will have to hit the 6m and 8m mark. You will have to keep the sticks in play.”