ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Pakistani Cricketers' Hypocrisy Exposed by Social Media

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is in dire straits. Pakistan’s refusal to accept the ICC’s proposal for a hybrid mode is set to bring hefty financial losses for its cricket board, PCB.

Taking note of it, several Pakistani cricketers have followed along the lines of the country’s former player, Shahid Afridi, in implying that politics should be kept away from sports. However, the stance has brought to the fore a major hypocrisy, catching the attention of social media users.

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared a thread of responses, speeches, and opinions of several prominent Pakistani cricket players, including Afridi, who have made politically charged statements, several of which aimed directly at India.

🚨 Pakistani cricketers are now saying politics should be kept out of cricket with the Champion Trophy approaching.

here are some of their past hate-filled comments against India, they now try to mask it under the “beauty of sports” banner. pic.twitter.com/2vMqngdUh6

— Vipin Tiwari (@Vipintiwari952) November 13, 2024

The row kicked off thanks to Afridi’s recent remarks when speaking to News24 Sports. “Sports should be kept away from politics. There is nothing better than both teams playing cricket against each other,” the former batsman had said in July, urging the Indian team to set foot in Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Ironically, the social media thread highlighted his anti-India stance from a 2018 post that called for UN action on alleged oppression by India in Kashmir. In a similar screen-grab, his ex-teammate, Shoaib Akhtar, had also made separatist remarks regarding Kashmir. Moreover, similar inflammatory remarks from Pakistani cricketers like Waqar Younis and Javed Miandad also found their place in the post.

Social media users quickly called out the falseness and sided with New Delhi’s decision to not send its national cricket team to Pakistan, which has long been accused of promoting state-sponsored terrorism against India.