T20 World Cup 2022: Kapil Dev believes friendliness between India and Pakistan players off the field is nothing new

In what promises to be a fascinating contest, arch-rivals India and Pakistan will go up against each other in their 2022 T20 World Cup opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23 (Sunday).

Ahead of the all-important clash, former ODI World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev gave his opinion on the relationship between the players of the two teams. The former India captain was speaking on a YouTube show in the presence of former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi.

During the recent official photo shoot for the T20 World Cup, captains of the Indian and Pakistani teams, Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam respectively, seemed very jovial and friendly with each other.

Last year, following Pakistan’s victory in the 2021 World Cup game against India, Virat Kohli, captain of India at the time, went and hugged Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and the picture went viral within a few seconds. Even during the Asia Cup, Indian players were seen inquiring about Shaheen Afridi’s fitness.

Additionally, Babar expressed his sympathy for Kohli when he was going through a patch of bad form. All these events have led to some discussion over the nature of relations between the players of the two teams.

During the show, a Pakistani journalist asked Kapil Dev whether the players were forced to make the relationship look like a brotherly bonding. In response, Kapil opined that it has remained the same for a long time and also took the name of Shahid Afridi who he felt could vouch for this fact.

“See the relationship between the players has been the same for the last 20-25 years. I don’t think it has changed much. The players always share a good bond with each other. Ask Shahid Afridi, even he will say that they used to have dinner together.”

Owing to the political tension between the two nations, the Asian giants only meet each other in multilateral tournaments.

Fans from both countries have always been very vocal and have always lashed out at their team whenever they have lost to the arch-rivals.

Kapil Dev also stated that these matches have a unique charm because they hardly play against each other.

Take a look at the full video of the interaction:

“However when it comes to spectators, they tend to get carried away as people from both the nations are very emotional about their teams. See it’s good to see the respect between the players, there is no respect on the field as every team wants to give their best and win.

"As I said earlier, the charm between India-Pakistan games will lose its sheen if we play each other every month or the other."

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Pakistan aim to build on historic win over India in last T20 World Cup

Babar Azam's team scripted history when they squared off against India at the T20 World Cup last year in UAE.

On the back of a fiery opening spell by Shaheen Afridi and a stupendous opening stand between Babar and Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets. This was their maiden victory over India in a World Cup game, be it the 50-over or T20 format.

While the Men in Green will look to replicate their heroics from the last edition, India will look to come back strong and stamp their authority against a team whom they have dominated for nearly three decades.