Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, former all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that the Indian and Pakistani cricketers should hang out with each other and their interactions should come out on social media.
Speaking on Samaa Podcast, Afridi further stated that the players are the ambassadors of their respective countries and they should spread a positive message.
Afridi also claimed the current crop of players from both countries share a healthy camaraderie as he cited the example of Shaheen Afridi giving new dad Jasprit Bumrah a gift for his new born baby during the Asia Cup 2023 and Babar Azam tweeting in support of Virat Kohli when the Indian stalwart was going through a bad patch in 2022.
According to Afridi, there is no better diplomacy than cricket and politics should be kept aside from the sports.
Here’s the video:
Shahid Afridi’s comment came despite the Indian team not travelling to Pakistan for the upcoming Champions Trophy.
Notably, the deadlock over the hosting model of the Champions Trophy was broken last month, with an agreement between the ICC, PCB and BCCI that the marquee India versus Pakistan matches in global events will be played at neutral venues till 2027.
After months of uncertainty, the United Arab Emirates was chosen as the neutral venue for the upcoming Champions Trophy where India’s matches will take place.
Furthermore, the ICC has adopted a hybrid model for mega events in India till 2027, which means Pakistan will also be able to play their matches at a neutral venue.
The cricketing ties between India and Pakistan have been fraught with political and security issues since the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
While the arch-rivals last played a limited-overs series in 2012, their last meeting in the Test format was way back in 2007. In this period, they've only clashed in multi-nation tournaments such as the World Cup and the Asia Cup.
Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup last year but India played all of their matches in Sri Lanka under the hybrid model.
The Champions Trophy 2025 is slated to get underway on February 19 in Karachi with the Pakistan versus New Zealand clash, the highly-anticipated India-Pakistan fixture is scheduled for February 23 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
