Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has slammed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for damaging the diplomatic relationship between Indian and Pakistan.
He further said that the neighbouring countries cannot resume the bilateral cricket ties till Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is in power and accused the PM of thinking “towards negativity”.
“Till Modi is in power, I don’t think we will get any response from India. We have all, including Indians, understood the way Modi thinks. His thinking is inclined towards negativity,” Afridi was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“Relationship between India and Pakistan has been damaged because of one person only. And that is not what we want,” the 2009 ICC T20 World Cup-winning captain said when asked if the bilateral cricket relationship between India and Pakistan can resume.
Other than facing each other in the ICC tournaments, the arch-rivals had last played in a bilateral series back in 2012-13 when Pakistan visited India for a two-match T20I series and three ODIs. India had last toured Pakistan in 2006 under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid.
“People from either side of the border want to travel to each other’s country. I don’t understand what Modi wants to do and what his agenda really is,” Afridi further said.
Earlier, at the final of the Expo 2020 Dubai Cricket tournament, Afridi had advocated for an India-Pakistan series and said it could be bigger than the Ashes if turned into reality.
“I think, if India and Pakistan were to have a series, it will be something bigger than the Ashes. However, we don’t seem to get it. We are letting politics get in the way of people’s love for this sport and their wish to come together,” Afridi had said as quoted by PTI.
Present in the same event, former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh had echoed the same and said, “We play cricket for the love of the sport. We cannot choose which country to play against ourselves. But what I can say is that the more India versus Pakistan cricket there is, the better it is for the sport.”