WATCH: Haris Rauf & Babar Azam welcome Rashid Khan in Karachi

KARACHI: Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan arrived in Karachi on Sunday to join his team ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is set to take place in Pakistan and the UAE next week.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) shared a video on its social media handles, capturing Rashid’s arrival at the team hotel.

The video showcased the star spinner receiving a warm welcome, with visuals of him embracing Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf and interacting with Pakistan’s batting maestro Babar Azam.

The ACB captioned the video: "Look who's arrived! The 👑 Rashid Khan received a warm welcome upon his arrival at the team hotel in Karachi."

Rashid’s arrival comes as Afghanistan looks to regroup following a disappointing start to their Champions Trophy 2025 preparations.

The Afghan team suffered a humiliating defeat in their first warm-up match against Pakistan Shaheens.

Batting first, the Shaheens posted a formidable total of 314/8 in 50 overs, powered by crucial half-centuries from Hussain Talat, Mohammad Irfan Khan and Mohsin Riaz. Talat top-scored with 70, while Mohsin and Irfan contributed 61 and 57 runs, respectively.

In response, Afghanistan’s batting unit faltered, getting bowled out for just 170 in 38.4 overs, resulting in a crushing 144-run defeat.

Shaheens' skipper, Shadab Khan, led the bowling attack with figures of 3/29, dismantling Afghanistan’s batting lineup.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, is currently playing its second warm-up match against New Zealand in Karachi.

For the unversed, the emerging Asian side will kick off its campaign at the newly renovated National Bank Stadium on February 21 with a match against South Africa.

The squad will then travel to Lahore, where they will face England and Australia on February 26 and 28, respectively.

Afghanistan squad for Champions Trophy 2025:

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

Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti, Bilal Sami