Shahid Afridi wishes India on Independence Day; hopeful of better Ind-Pak cricketing relations 

Indians generally see Pakistan as their biggest enemies on the cricket pitch, and not many are fans of Pakistan cricketers. Despite the generalization, one person who has found a place in hearts of several cricket fanatics across India, as well as in all other parts of the world, is Shahid "Boom Boom" Afridi. He recently retired from international cricket, but still continues to keep in touch with his fans via the social media.

On the occasion of India's 72nd Independence Day yesterday (15th August), the maverick cricketer took to Twitter to express his heartfelt wishes for all Indian fans. Take a look at what he tweeted out to his followers:

Happy Independence Day to #India, our neighbors across the border. I sincerely hope that from this year onwards, both Pakistan and India work towards resolving their issues for a better, peaceful and prosperous region where India Pak cricket matches can also be frequently held.

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) August 15, 2018

It is to be noted that Afridi followed his Independence day wish with how he hoped for better relations. He added that he was hopeful for both the nations to resolve all issues with each other and move towards collectively becoming better, peaceful and prosperous so that India-Pakistan cricket matches can also be held with renewed vigour, just like in the olden days.

As mentioned, he already has truckloads of fans, but his latest tweet will definitely add more to the numbers. His hope for a greater number of cricket matches between the two countries can be traced back to the 2012 mandate by the Indian Government, who ruled that they would no longer allow any bilateral series against its neighbours, citing political tensions as the reason.

The teams had stopped playing in each others' home venues long before, the only exceptions being the 2011 World Cup and the 2016 T20 World Cup wherein India was the venue nation.

The India-Pakistan rivalry transcends across varying sports, and the cricketing field has been one of the most prime situations of it, having participated in some hot contests with each other in bilateral events, and to this date, sparks are sure to fly whenever they face off each other in any venue. As of now, India is bound to face Pakistan in the Asia Cup in September, and in the 2019 World Cup, in the most recent upcoming features.