'In Pakistan, Virat Kohli will forget the love he has received in India', says Shahid Afridi
Amidst reports of India's decision to refrain from travelling to Pakistan for next year's Champions Trophy, former captain Shahid Afridi feels that Virat Kohli will forget the love and affection he has received in India if he visits Pakistan. The veteran all-rounder asserted that Kohli has a huge number of admirers and gets massive adulation in Pakistan. Afridi also urged the Indian team to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, keeping aside the difficult 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. In fact, he is my favourite player. He has his own 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.
Commenting on the inconsistency in Pakistan cricket administration, Afridi said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman should be appointed for a longer duration so that the captain gets a decent tenure in the role.
"Chairman should at least get three years so that Pakistan captain can remain for 2-3 years at his post. With the change of chairman, other things should not be affected. If we work on the basis of merit, the results will come. (Sahi banda agar sahi kursi par baithe toh result khud aa jayenge) If the right person takes the right job, then the result will come automatically," he said.