Legendary Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has urged BCCI to allow Team India to tour Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 as it would help to improve the bilateral relationship between the two nations. With the marquee tournament set to be hosted across the border, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had previously hinted that India will travel to Pakistan, thus calling for the Asia Cup to be hosted at a neutral venue.
The Pakistan Cricket Board however has maintained their stance for the tournament to be hosted on their soil or they have threatened to boycott the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 in India.
Amid the ongoing standoff between the two nations, former Pakistan skipper Afridi has urged BCCI to take ‘responsibility’ to improve the relations between the two nations insisting that there are no security concerns across the border, citing the example of teams who have recently toured Pakistan.
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Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Legends League Cricket (LLC) final in Doha, Afridi added that he maintains friendly relationships with many former Indian players including Suresh Raina.
“It would have been really nice if India had come. It would have been a step towards Cricket and Pakistan for India. This is not the generation of wars and fights. We want relationships to get better,” said Afridi.
The explosive all-rounder added, “What can we do if we want to befriend someone and he does not talk to us? There is no doubt that the BCCI is a very strong board, but when you are strong, you have more responsibility. You don’t try to make more enemies, you need to make friends.”
Notably, India and Pakistan haven’t played each other in bilateral series since 2012-13 and the Men in Blue last visited the neighbouring nation in 2008.
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“When you make more friends, you become stronger. I still have friends in the Indian team when we meet, we discuss, the other day I met Raina and I asked for a bat, he gave me a bat,” added the 46-year-old.
“As far as the security concern in Pakistan is concerned, we had many international teams traveling here recently. We used to face security threats from India as well, but if permission is received from the government of both countries then the tour will happen. If the tour doesn’t happen, we will give those people a chance. All they want is that there should be no cricket between them,” insisted Shahid Afridi further.
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