Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

India team gives ex-Pak skipper Afridi signed Virat Kohli jersey

- Sean Sequeira sean.sequeira@hindustant­imes.com

matches between India and Pakistan have always been tense affairs. However, it is well known that the cricketers of both nations have been cordial, even sharing deep friendship­s at times.

So it comes as no surprise that the Indian cricket team extended a hand of support to Pakistan’s former captain Shahid Afridi.

A Virat Kohli shirt, signed by players of the Indian cricket team, was gifted to Afridi earlier and has caught wind on social media after the latter’s retirement earlier this year.

An image of the shirt was recently uploaded to Twitter by a Pakistani journalist who encountere­d the shirt.

Signatures of Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Suresh Raina, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwa­r Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, and coach Ravi Shashtri are identifiab­le on the image of the shirt.

Afridi announced his retirement from all formats of the internatio­nal game in February.

He had previously retired from Test and ODI cricket but continued to captain the Pakistan T20I side until the 2016 World T20.

He stepped down as T20I captain after he had captained Pakistan against India in a group stage match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

A VIRAT KOHLI SHIRT, SIGNED BY PLAYERS OF THE INDIAN TEAM, WAS GIFTED TO AFRIDI EARLIER AND HAS CAUGHT WIND ON SOCIAL MEDIA

India won the match by six wickets. His retirement at the age of 36 brought an end to a 21-year internatio­nal career during which he played 27 Tests, 398 One- day Internatio­nals and 98 T20I matches.

Afridi had recently been announced as one of eight Champion Ambassador­s for the ICC Champions Trophy which will be held in the United Kingdom from June 1 to 18.

Joining him as ambassador were India’s Harbhajan Singh, Bangladesh’s Habibul Bashar, England’s Ian Bell, New Zealand’s Shane Bond, Australia’s Mike Hussey, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, and South Africa’s Graeme Smith.

 ?? HT PHOTO ?? India skipper Virat Kohli has gifted Shahid Afridi a shirt signed by India team players.
HT PHOTO India skipper Virat Kohli has gifted Shahid Afridi a shirt signed by India team players.

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