Disappointed with Kapil Dev’s response, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi has backed his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar’s proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Afridi told reporters in Kohat, around 180km from Islamabad, that he was surprised by the comments of Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who have snubbed Shoaib’s suggestion.

“The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region. Such negative comments don’t help at all,” Afridi said. “I don’t see anything wrong with Shoaib’s suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket. Kapil’s reaction has surprised me. I feel one should not talk like this in times of crisis.”

Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the “negative comments” after Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh’s support for his charity foundation last week.