You don’t try to make more enemies; instead, you make new friends. You become stronger as you make more friends, Afridi explained. When asked if he believes the PCB (the Pakistan Cricket Board) is weak, Afridi said, I would not say weak, but some answers came from the front (BCCI) as well.
Cricket, according to Afridi, is the best diplomacy, and both teams should help each other. He maintains friendly relationships with the Indian players. Suresh Raina, a former Indian cricketer, gave me a bat the other day.
I still have friends in the Indian team, and when we get together, we talk. The other day, I met Raina, and I asked for a bat, and he gave me a bat, he says. Afridi insisted on’spreading the love’ throughout the conversation. He recalled that when Indian cricketers went out during the 2005 series, no one took money from them.
According to the legendary big hitting allrounder, Pakistan has no security concerns because many international teams have safely toured in recent years. In terms of security in Pakistan, we’ve had a number of international teams visit recently. We used to face security threats from India as well, but the tour will go ahead if permission is granted by the governments of both countries.
If the tour is cancelled, we will give those people another chance. All they want is for there to be no cricket between them, Afridi explained. After the Mumbai 2008 terrorist attack, bilateral cricketing ties between the two countries did not resume; the teams have only met in a multi-nation tournament since then. Afridi suggested that both boards meet on a regular basis to discuss issues.
Last year, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the Asian Cricket Council’s chief, announced that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan to compete in the Asia Cup, and that the tournament will be held in a neutral location. PCB objected, claiming that ACC did not even notify them of the tournament’s relocation and that the decision was made without consulting them.
Since then, PCB has threatened to withdraw from the 50-over World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in India, if the Asia Cup is held elsewhere in the cricketing world. The truth is that we never talk to each other. Communication is critical.
Politicians do the same thing: they debate. Nothing will be resolved until you all sit down together. It would have been preferable if India had visited Pakistan. Both our governments and we want better relations, Afridi said.
On the issue of hosting the Asian Cup, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi said on Saturday that the support of other members of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will be important, but he admitted that India, which wants the tournament to be held elsewhere, has a lot of clout in the continental body.
I have held informal consultations and obtained government opinion, and this time we have also obtained all legal advice for what stance we can take at these meetings, Sethi explained.
