The India–Pakistan rivalry is considered as cricket's greatest rivalry as well as one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world, thanks to the hostile political relation between the two neighboring nations.
The bitter diplomatic relationships haven’t only impacted the off-field relation between India and Pakistan but also affected the cricketing relations, as the two cricket-crazy nations now only meet in International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments and Asia Cup.
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Despite the bitter relationship between the nuclear-armed rivals, the cricketers from both countries share a great relationship and have praised each other at various stages.
However, currently, things have changed dramatically as the Indian players avoid much involvement with Pakistanis given the political tensions and border issues.
Recently, the 2017 Champions Trophy-winning captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has recalled the days when the players from both countries used to be good friends and shared a cordial relation.
The wicketkeeper-batsman, who was named in Pakistan squad for England tour, also hopes the things would improve soon to enable India-Pakistan cricket rivalry in the same way it used to before 2008.
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Sarfaraz was quoted as saying by CricTracker: “Of course, there is this thing that people from India and Pakistan are quite passionate about Cricket and have loads of love for the game. I have personally seen that there is a good friendship between Pakistani and Indian players.”
He continued, “When I had gone to India in 2007. Besides, when India came to Pakistan in 2008, I have even seen scenes when I have also seen players from both countries sit together and eat. But now, unfortunately, it is a scenario where-in we are not able to play matches, but I hope the situation improves and India and Pakistan are able to play cricket the way they used to.
You very well know how India and Pakistan matches are. No matter what kind of match it is, whether it is a bilateral series or any tournament people from both sides get all excited. At the Asia Cup, I had met Shikhar Dhawan in a program in Dubai and we both felt the same way. For us, we want to win against India, for them, they want to win against Pakistan. The public’s expectation is there to win against India. So that feeling was quite an outstanding one.”
The former captain also recounted Pakistan’s historic 2017 Champions Trophy final win over India by 180 runs to lift the trophy. Sarfaraz signed off by saying, “After an extremely long time, in a big event, Pakistan won against India which was a strong team after a very long time in a major tournament. So, everyone in Pakistan was very happy. For me, and even for my family members, 18th June was a date to remember for life. Absolutely, no one can forget.”
