Hope Pakistan And India Work Towards Resolving Their Issues, Says Shahid Afridi As He Wishes India On Independence Day

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi, on Wednesday, wished India on its Independence Day. The legendary allrounder also hoped that the bilateral ties between India and Pakistan would start improving from this year.

India and Pakistan celebrate their Independence Days 24 hours apart. Both the countries were a part of the same dominion but separated in 1947. India celebrate their Independence Day on August 15 while Pakistan does it one day before. But that is the only close similarity between the two neighbours. Over the years, the political tension between the two nations has been escalating.

And the political tension is totally reflected in cricket too. The arch-rivals have not played a full bilateral Test series since 2007. Pakistan had visited India for three Tests and five One-Day Internationals. They played a short series of three ODIs and two T20s in India in December 2012. But otherwise, both have faced each other only in the ICC organised events or the Asia Cup. They last played against each other in last year’s Champions Trophy.

Last year, the PCB had also decided to sue its Indian counterpart on the ground that the latter did not honour the MoU signed in 2014. The boards had signed the MoU for six bilateral series to be played between 2015 and 2023 with Pakistan hosting four of them.

However, the BCCI could not go organise any series because of Indian government’s decision to now play Pakistan.

The BCCI has also not kept Pakistan in its Future Tour Programmed for 2019-2023 cycles. The Indian board has snubbed  the neighbouring country amongst its six proposed opponents for the World Test Championship beginning in 2019.

Well, Afridi is hopeful that as the nations celebrate one more year of Independence, they bury the hatchet and resolve their issues. He took to Twitter to wish India on Independence day, writing:

“Happy Independence Day to #India, our neighbors across the border. I sincerely hope that from this year onwards, both Pakistan and India work towards resolving their issues for a better, peaceful and prosperous region where India Pak cricket matches can also be frequently held.”

Happy Independence Day to #India, our neighbors across the border. I sincerely hope that from this year onwards, both Pakistan and India work towards resolving their issues for a better, peaceful and prosperous region where India Pak cricket matches can also be frequently held.

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) August 15, 2018