Shahid Afridi has stated that he will ask Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “let cricket happen” amid the Asia Cup 2023 hosting drama. Former Pakistan captain also stated that India has a “very strong” cricket board. As a result, the BCCI should take “more responsibility” and work to restore normalcy between the two cricketing nations.
“I will request Modi sahab to let cricket happen between both countries,” Afridi made the statement while on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket (LLC) match in Qatar.
Afridi said when asked if he thought the PCB (the Pakistan Cricket Board) was weak, “I would not say weak, but some answers came from the front (BCCI) as well”.
Cricket, according to Afridi, is the best form of diplomacy, and both teams should support each other. He is still friendly with the Indian players. Former India star Suresh Raina recently presented him with a bat.
“I still have friends in the Indian team when we meet, we discuss, the other day I met Raina and I asked for a bat, he gave me a bat,” he says.
Afridi insisted on “spreading the love” throughout a protracted conversation. He noted that nobody ever demanded money from the Indian cricket players during the 2005 series.
The storied all-rounder said that Pakistan has no security issues because numerous foreign teams had recently travelled there without any problems.
“As far as the security concern in Pakistan is concerned, we had many international teams traveling here recently. We used to face security threats from India as well, but if permission is received from the government of both the countries then the tour will happen. If the tour doesn’t happen, we will give those people a chance. All they want is that there should be no cricket between them,” Afridi said.