Former Pakistani cricketer feels Afridi's remark on Kashmir was uncalled for

In the recent times, the socia media exchanges between former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi and the Indian cricketers has taken an ugly shape. The Indian cricketers were utterly unimpressed with the remarks made by Shahid Afridi on the Kashmir issue. And now, a former Pakistani cricketer, Yasir Arafat, has also termed that Afridi’s remark was an uncalled for remark. Recently, cases of violence hit out in the Indian state of Kashmir.

Disappointed with this, Afridi had posted a tweet urging the UN to intervene and take stern actions against India. He had called the regions in Kashmir as ‘Indian occupied Kashmir’. This did not go down well with the Indian cricketers and the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, and Shikhar Dhawan slammed Afridi for his remark. Afridi got some backing from a few Pakistani cricketers too.

However, now, as per the recent column of Yasir Arafat in PakPassion, the former all-rounder believes that Afridi should not have jumped in the case. Arafat noted that the job of a cricketer is to play and hence, Afridi’s remarks in a political issue made absolutel no sense.

“The recent spat on social media between Shahid Afridi and a few Indian cricketers has caused some controversy. Let me say that I am a firm believer in the approach that a politician’s job is to practice politics, whilst a sportsman’s job is to play a sport on the field,” Yasir Arafat quoted.

“It makes no sense and does not seem right for me as a sportsman, who knows little about foreign affairs, to start discussing such matters on social media. Let the politicians handle such matters and as sportsmen, talking on these issues does not look nice under any circumstance,” he added further.

Yasir Arafat gives his opinion on the Windies series

On a different note, Yasir Arafat spoke about the recently concluded home series against Windies. He noted that the successful completion of the series is indeed a very positive news for the Pakistan cricket. He is happy to see smooth conduct of international fixtures in Pakistan again. He congratulated all the officials involved who worked hard to make the series a success.

“The inputs regarding the security situation in Pakistan of the various players’ associations for each country such as England, Australia or New Zealand also play an important role in the final decision by the boards of different countries to tour Pakistan. The good news as far as Pakistan is concerned is that the series against the West Indies passed by without any incident or mishap. The tour can therefore be deemed a complete success from an organisational point of view,” Arafat wrote.

“I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to the Government of Pakistan, the security forces and the Pakistan Cricket Board for all arrangements regarding the successful tour by the West Indies,” he added.

For the latest cricket news, follow CricTracker.