Shahid Afridi feels more loved in India than back home in Pakistan

Pakistan T20 skipper Shahid Afridi said that he feels more loved in India rather than back home in Pakistan, IBN Live reports. The 36-year-old veteran cricketer also praised India for its recent form and said that Pakistan needed to learn from their mistakes if they are to perform well at the World T20.

Afridi had stoked a controversy back in 2011 when he stated that the Indian cricket fans were not large-hearted like their Pakistani counterparts. However, on the eve of the 2016 World T20, the skipper who has faced severe backlash from the public as well as former cricketers like Javed Miandad and Rashid Latif following Pakistan’s dismal outing at the Asia Cup, where they lost to arch-rivals India and Bangladesh, said that he has always loved playing in front of the Indian crowds.

"India mein humne humesha cricket enjoy kia, yahan ke logon se humein bahut pyar mila, itna pyar humein Pak mein bhi ni mila jitna yahan," Afridi said. [I have always enjoyed cricket in India. I have always received a lot of love from the people here; even in Pakistan I haven't been loved this much.]

The all-rounder also added that the game of cricket had played a key role in bringing the two nations together and expressed hope that politics will be kept away from sporting matters.

"I think cricket had helped in bringing the two nations closer. So, I think that sports and politics should be kept apart," he said.

Pakistan have performed well at Eden: Afridi

Talking about his side’s tournament opener against Bangladesh, should they as expected, qualify for the group stages of the tournament, Afridi said that the first game was always going to be crucial no matter what the opposition.

"The first game is always very important. We will take the rhythm from the very first game. We will play our first match against Bangladesh and then India,” he said. “Both matches are extremely crucial. Bangladesh are playing good cricket as well. I think we have to maintain our rhythm from the very first match.”

The highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan, which has been shifted from Dharamsala to Kolkata following security concerns raised by the PCB, is also high on Afridi’s thoughts. The skipper admitted that the World T20 hosts are playing good cricket at the moment but added that his side was happy to play at the Eden Gardens stadium as they have a good history at the venue.

“We have been performing well in this (Eden Gardens) ground. We are well aware of the conditions here,” Afridi added. "No doubt, India are playing a good cricket. If you look at our last game against India in the Asia Cup. I think there was a great performance from Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh. They had done really well in that game."

Afridi is confident that Pakistan can perform well at the tournament, should his side play according to the roles assigned to the individual players – something that has been missing lately, according to the skipper.

"I think team planning is very important. We should play according to the team plan and we are missing that. I don't live in the past. But I think, we should learn from the past. If we play according to the team plan then we will definitely do well," Afridi concluded.