The political situation in India has gotten much worse after former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi commended Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress party. The BJP went after the Opposition hard, but the Congress and other Opposition parties soon fought back by pointing out that Afridi had been “hobnobbing” with BJP leaders.
The argument started when a video of Afridi’s statements on Pakistan’s Samma TV went viral. Afridi blasted the Indian government after India’s big win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup match, saying, “This government always plays the religion and Muslim-Hindu card to stay in power.” This way of thinking is quite terrible. He went on to claim that India has “some good ones too,” naming Rahul Gandhi and noting, “He has a very positive mindset.” He thinks that talking to people and bringing them along is important. Afridi also asked India why they were striving to become another Israel, saying, “Is one Israel not enough?”
The BJP quickly responded to the comments. Kiren Rijiju, a minister in the union government, said that Afridi and the people of Pakistan “could make Rahul Gandhi their leader.” The BJP said that the Congress has an old “yaarana” (friendship) with Pakistan.
But the Opposition was ready to fight back. Priyanka Chaturvedi, the head of Shiv Sena (UBT), told Rijiju to “sit this one out,” pointing out that Afridi had been seen “hobnobbing with BJP MPs just a few months ago.” In the same way, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate tweeted a picture of Afridi with BJP’s Anurag Thakur and wrote in Hindi, “You do the sweet-talking…you keep the friendships, and you’ll ask us questions?”
A video of Afridi, Anurag Thakur, and ICC Chairman Jay Shah enjoying a game together has also been going around. Some people said it was from the most recent India-Pakistan Asia Cup encounter, but Grok, an AI, later said it was from the Champions Trophy match in February 2025.
On the other hand, Congress MP and veteran lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi took a different route and attacked Afridi directly. Singhvi said that Afridi’s “problem with India ran deeper than his mysterious age records,” and that his “anti-India rant is louder than ever” now that his son-in-law, Shaheen Shah Afridi, is being “hammered by Indian batsmen.”
The last Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan was already a flashpoint, coming only months after a terrorist incident in Pahalgam that killed 26 people. India won the match by a huge seven wickets.