Sohail slams Afridi for comments against Indians
4 Apr 2011, 1111 hrs IST, AGENCIES
Former Pakistan skipper Aamir Sohail today slammed current captain Shahid Afridi for his comments that Indians are "not as large-hearted as Pakistanis", saying that the staement was "immaturish and untimely". Afridi had said after reaching home following Pakistan's semifinal exit from the World Cup that it would be very difficult for Pakistanis to live with Indians or to have long-term relationship with them.
Sohail said Afridi should not have made these remarks just after the goodwill generated in the aftermatch of the India-Pakistan semifinal clash at Mohali and he should respect each individual. "I think Afridi should not have made such comments. You got to respect every individual. His statement is kind of immaturish and at the same time untimely," Sohail said.
Afridi had also criticised Indian media for its "negative approach" but Sohail said media has a certain role to play. "Look, media has a certain role to play. Media highlights the different aspects of an issue. For me, media is like a pain in body. You have to deal with media and find solutions in the relationship with it just like we consult doctors," he told TIMES NOW.
Pak skipper Afridi slams Indian media
Days after winning the hearts of numerous Indian fans with his remarks after his team's loss in the World Cup semi-final, Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has said Indians are not as large-hearted as Pakistanis. Afridi also slammed the Indian media for its "very negative approach" and said the Pakistani media was a "hundred times better" than its Indian counterpart.
"In my opinion, if I have to tell the truth, they (Indians) will never have hearts like Muslims and Pakistanis. I dont think they have the large and clean hearts that Allah has given us," Afridi said during a talk show on Samaa news channel when he was asked about relations between the two countries.
"It is a very difficult thing for us to live with them (Indians) or to have long-term relationship with them. Nothing will come out of talks. See how many times in the past 60 years we have had friendship and then how many times things have gone bad," he said as the audience in the TV channel's studio applauded him repeatedly.
"We don't want to fight with each other but a third country everyone knows which one it is is trying to spoil our relations. (This country) is taking advantage of Pakistan and wants to take advantage of India. I don't want to go into details but these people will not let us come together," he added.
Asked about the Indian media's coverage of the Pakistani team during the semi-final with India at Mohali on March 30, Afridi replied: "The Indian media has a very negative approach and very negative thoughts. The people may not be like that but I think the media had a very dirty role in spoiling relations between us and India. Our media, which is criticised by people, is hundred times better than theirs," he said.
India beat Pakistan in the semi-final, which was watched by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, who used cricket diplomacy to boost the peace process between the two sides.
Afridi also criticised Interior Minister Rehman Malik for warning the Pakistani team not to get involved in match-fixing and Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who vowed to dedicate victory in the World Cup final to victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
"I think they were both very stupid comments by Rehman Malik and Gautam Gambhir...I wasn't expecting this from Gautam...This is all politics, what do you know about who carried out the Bombay attacks?" he said.
The Mumbai attacks, which left 166 people dead, were carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
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