Shahid Afridi became the first Pakistani cricketer to react on the Pulwama terrorist attack. The former Pakistan captain on Tuesday came in full support Prime Minister Imran Khan who not only denied his country’s involvement in the attack but also promised to retaliate if India decides to take military action.
Quoting Pakistan Government’s official response on the Pulwama attack, Afridi said, “Absolutely crystal and clear,” on Tuesday night.
Afridi's reaction was the first response from a Pakistani cricketer after a number of Indian cricketers aired their strong views on the attack.
The Indian government had toughened its stand on Pakistan after the dastardly terror attacks killed 44 Indian soldiers in the Jammu-Sri Nagar highway on February 14. India immediately snatched the MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status from Pakistan and increased customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan by 200%, promising to take strict action against them.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan, in his response to the mood in India in the aftermath of the Pulwama attacks, said they were being accused without any solid proof.
"If India has evidence or actionable intelligence, they should give it to us and we will take action. It is easy to start a war but difficult to end it," Khan said.
The attack meanwhile, had its effect on cricket and cricketers too. Many Indian premier websites stopped the coverage of PSL 2019 after IMG-Reliance and DSports pulled out as production partner of the fourth edition of the tournament.
Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and couple of former officials even urged BCCI to boycott Pakistan in the upcoming ODI World Cup in England. There was no official confirmation on that matter as BCCI decided to imply a wait and watch policy