Former captain of Pakistan and explosive batsman Shahid Afridi has supported his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar’s suggestion that an India-Pakistan three-match One-Day International series should be held to raise relief funds to fight the corona outbreak.
Afridi: We Need Unity In Our Region To Fight Common Enemy
Shoaib Akhtar’s plan was dismissed by bowling great Kapil Dev who asked why cricketers’ lives should be put in danger, and it is not worth endangering even one life for the sake of cricket.
Afridi who was disappointed with Kapil Dev’s remarks said that there is nothing wrong with Akhtar’s suggestion as unity is required in the region to fight the common enemy and such negative comments would not help in these crisis times.
“The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don’t help at all,” Afridi said.
“I don’t see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar’s suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket. Kapil’s reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in this crisis time,” the 40-year-old said.
“Sport Should Bring People Together”
He is also disappointed with the negative reactions Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh received for supporting his charity foundation and said that sports are supposed to bring unity.
“Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing,” he said.
At the same time, he urged Pakistan Prime Minister and world cup-winning-captain, Imran Khan, to revive departmental cricket which could save the livelihood of hundreds of domestic cricket players.
“I myself played for the departments and witnessed how departments really salvaged domestic cricket in Pakistan and helped it thrive decade after decade. Departments take good care of the players and spend lots of money on the development of domestic cricket, so how can departmental cricket hurt Pakistan cricket,” questioned Afridi.
