Sarfaraz Ahmed misses days when Indian and Pakistani cricketers use to eat together

Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed recently gave his take regarding the cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan. Even though both India and Pakistan have been facing each other in only International Cricket Council (ICC) events and in Asia Cup matches in the past few years, the 33-year-old pinned hope that the bilateral rivalry between the two nations will soon be able to resume. Due to the rising political tensions on each side of the border, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have cut all bilateral ties against Pakistan. Moreover, the last time Pakistan faced India outside any ICC or Asia Cup event was when they toured India in 2012-13 for a limited-overs series.

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Sarfaraz Ahmed bats for India vs Pakistan cricket

In a recent interview with CricTracker, Sarfaraz Ahmed said that both Indian and Pakistani cricket fans share a passionate love for the game. He admitted to personally seeing players from both sides sharing a good friendship with each other. Sarfaraz Ahmed recalled his 2007 tour to India where he saw players from the two teams laughing and eating together. He later admitted that the situation is not the same anymore as they are not even allowed to play matches against each other. Sarfaraz Ahmed said that he hopes the situation improves and India and Pakistan start playing cricket again.

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Sarfaraz Ahmed also spoke about the feeling of excitement the players have whenever they are facing each other, be it in a tournament or a bilateral contest. He later recalled an interaction he had with dashing Indian opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan in Dubai during the 2018 Asia Cup. Sarfaraz Ahmed stated both he and Dhawan felt the same way about the India vs Pakistan rivalry.

Notably, Ahmed was Pakistan’s captain when the ‘Men in Green’ defeated a rampaging Virat Kohli-led unit in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy in England on June 18, 2017. Speaking on the third anniversary of Pakistan’s memorable triumph, the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman said that the achievement was one to remember in his life and it was something he can “absolutely” never forget.

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The charity conundrum between Shahid Afridi, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh

Amidst the political tensions between India and Pakistan, Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh both made donations to former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi’s eponymous foundation as relief for victims during the global pandemic in April. While both cricketers were heavily criticised by Indian fans on social media, they found support from the veteran Pakistani himself. However, the situation took a drastic turn when Shahid Afridi made controversial remarks against the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thus prompting Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh to cutting all ties with the all-rounder.

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Image credits: ICC Twitter