The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced that former Pakistan captain Younis Khan will accompany the national side during the upcoming ICC Men's Champions Trophy as team mentor.

Khan, who represented Pakistan across 265 ODIs, 118 Test matches, and led them to a historic Men's T20 World Cup triumph in 2009, amassed over 17,000 runs across formats. He still holds the record for most Test hundreds by a Pakistan batter (34).

Naseeb Khan, CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, believes that the former Pakistan batting icon's experience of the local conditions will come in handy for Afghanistan in the upcoming tournament.

"Since the Champions Trophy is being held in Pakistan, it was required to assign a talented and experienced player as mentor from the hosting country," Khan stated.

"We already had efficient experience with hosting countries' mentors in ODI World Cup 2023 and T20I World Cup 2024.

"Observing the conditions, therefore, we have appointed Younis Khan as mentor for our national team for the upcoming mega event and wish him best of the luck in his crucial assignment."

Khan has been associated with the Afghanistan men's team before, having served as their batting coach back in 2022.

The ICC Champions Trophy is set to kick off on February 19, with Afghanistan beginning their campaign on February 21 against South Africa at the National Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan.