By IANS,
Karachi : Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi believes the Asian cricket-playing nations will have to establish a united front to save the sport from becoming a victim in this region because of growing terrorism.
Afridi told Gulf News Friday in Dubai that the cricket-playing community of Asia and especially the sub-continent will have to rally behind each other to ensure that the game keeps going despite being under threat from the terrorists.
“I think the Asian cricket community should help each other to keep the game going in this part of the world,” said Afridi.
He said Sri Lankan cricketers have set a great example by expressing solidarity with Pakistan even after being attacked by the terrorists in Lahore last month.
“I would like to compliment the Sri Lankan cricketers for their willingness to come back to Pakistan despite being attacked,” he said.
Afridi joined his team-mates in Dubai Thursday, several days after Pakistan had landed in the Gulf emirate, as he was attending his sister’s wedding in Karachi.
The all-rounder says he and his teammates are itching to take the field against Australia in the one-day series to be played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi April 22-May 7.
“The team is hungry for win and all of us are looking forward to the series,” he said.
Afridi said with no international cricket currently happening in Pakistan, the players are raring to prove themselves.
“The team is gelling well under Younis Khan’s captaincy and the series could not have come at a better time. The boys enjoy a great comfort level in the UAE and hopefully, we will have a good series,” he said.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has chosen UAE as the venue for this series and Afridi has a special affinity for the crowds here since the Sharjah days because of the huge Pathan presence.
“Each community has its own heroes and they have treated me like one in Sharjah and recently in Abu Dhabi. Apne logon ke samne perform karne me jyada maaza ayega (It will give me greater pleasure to perform well before our own men),” he said.