Afridi thanks "Superstar" Kohli for retirement gift
Shahid Afridi took to twitter to express his gratitude after being presented with a Virat Kohli jersey adorned with the signatures of Team India, on the occasion of his retirement. The heartwarming gesture by the Indian team won accolades of cricket fans across both sides of the border.
India-Pakistan matches have always been intense and full of sparks, but the players have been known to share friendship on and off the field. It was then no surprise when the Indian team showed their support to Shahid Afridi after his retirement.
The Indian team sent the 37-year old a number 18 Virat Kohli jersey that had a message in Kohli's handwriting saying,"To Shahid Bhai, best wishes, always a pleasure playing against you."
The jersey had signatures of Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Suresh Raina, Pawan Negi, Mohammad Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, and former coach Ravi Shastri.
The picture of the jersey was recently uploaded to twitter by Pakistani journalist Faizan Lakhani.
Shahid Afridi acknowledged the gesture via twitter where he tweeted,"Thank you to you and the entire Indian team for a wonderful farewell gift @imVkohli. Respect Superstar, hope to see you soon."
Thank you to you and the entire Indian team for a wonderful farewell gift @imVkohli. Respect superstar, hope to see you soon 😊 pic.twitter.com/DGz8aMs1Xv
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) April 21, 2017
The former Pakistan international put a halt on his international career when he announced his retirement from the T20Is earlier this February. The explosive batsman ended his 21-year international career in which he played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs, and 98 T20I matches.
He has been announced as one of the eight Champions Trophy ambassadors that is to be held this year in June. The list of the eight ambassadors include Harbhajan Singh, Habibul Bashar, Ian Bell, Shane Bond, Mike Hussey, Kumar Sangakara and Graeme Smith.