Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi has urged the Indian team to visit Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and said that the Men in Blue players will forget the love they get back home.

This comes amidst reports of BCCI informing ICC that Team India will not be traveling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and requested the Men in Blue’s matches to be held either in UAE or Sri Lanka.

The legendary all-rounder stated that Kohli has a large number of supporters and receives widespread praise in Pakistan. Afridi also pushed the Indian team to visit Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, despite the tough political relations between the two countries.

"I welcome the Indian team (in Pakistan) and they should come. We've always received huge respect and love in our tours of India. In the same way, the Indian team also received love and respect during their tour in 2005. Cricket tours should be kept aside from politics. There is no big politics than India and Pakistan playing against each other in their countries," Afridi told News24 Sports' YouTube channel.

"Virat will forget the love he has received in India when he would play in Pakistan. He has a huge craze in Pakistan and our people like him very much. He is my favorite player. He has his class and he shouldn't have retired from T20Is as because of him T20I looked beautiful," he added.

When asked about the next big thing of Indian cricket alike legends Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, Afridi said Shubman Gill has the potential to replicate their success in international cricket.

Afridi further went on to laud the Indian cricket structure especially the Indian Premier League (IPL) for unearthing a plethora of domestic talents and creating a solid bench strength for the Men in Blue.

"IPL has created so much talent pool for India that they can make two teams," he said.

(IANS inputs)