India is lucky to have a stable captain in Dhoni: Afridi

Lahore, Apr 7 (PTI) India is lucky to have a "stable"
captain like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, according to Pakistan's ODI
skipper Shahid Afridi who is still trying to play down his
negative remarks against Indians that caused an uproar.
"I thought Dhoni led the Indians very shrewdly and
performed brilliantly in the final. India is lucky to have a
stable captain like him," Afridi told PTI in an interview.
"He had a big role to play in the Indian victory and I am
sure this victory means a lot for Indian cricket and their
people. But I also hope the World Cup coming back to Asia will
also boost the sport in this region again and normalise
bilateral Indo-Pak cricket relations," he said.
Afridi acknowledged that India were the better side on
that day and deserved to win the World Cup.
"They were the better side and deserved to win the world
cup. Any side that can beat us should win the World Cup," he
said.
Afridi heaped praise on Indian batting icon Sachin
Tendulkar, saying that his hunger for runs is amazing and he
still has plenty to offer to Indian cricket.
"His hunger for runs is amazing and only he can best
decide what he wants to do in the future. But I can tell you
this age is no bar to his success in either Tests or one-day
internationals," he said.
Afridi said he did not have any words to describe the
Indian maestro and disclosed that he has a framed jersey
autographed by Tendulkar in his drawing room.
The Pakistan captain once again played down his negative
remarks about Indian people that he made on a Pakistani
television channel talk show that has caused an uproar in the
neighboring country.
"I have nothing against the Indian people and I have
always enjoyed going to India as the people there appreciate
and support good cricket and players," Afridi said.
"The remarks I made on the show have been misunderstood
and taken out of context. My main emphasis was that sports
should not be mixed with politics and there were some elements
who didn't want the people of the two countries to get
closer," Afridi clarified.
"It is unfortunate whenever someone tries to bring
politics into sport. This is unacceptable and will only lead
to misunderstandings," he said.
Afridi's remarks about the Indian media being negative
about Indo-Pak relations and the Pakistani media being
100 times better have also caused a furore.
"I don't want to sound condescending but I have always
wanted good relations between the two countries and I have in
my own way tried to play a positive role," he said.
"Even when we returned from India after playing the world
cup semifinal in Mohali I said that Pakistanis should not
treat cricket matches with India as war as in other things we
tend to have common interests," Afridi noted.
Afridi pointed out that there were some elements in the
Indian media who created misunderstandings or demeaned
Pakistanis.
"Even when I said that Sachin Tendulkar would have to wait
for his 100th century after the semifinal against us, my
remarks were misinterpreted and played up negatively by some
in the Indian media.
"I admire Sachin Tendulkar for being one of the best role
models for young cricketers and no one in Pakistan even doubts
his greatness as his record speak for himself.
"All I had meant was that being the captain of the
opposing team, we would not allow Tendulkar to score runs or
get a century against us which any opposing captain would say
about an opposing batsman," Afridi explained.
The Pakistan captain said the national team had gone to
India with the message of peace.
"I think our conduct in the semifinal and during our stay
in India is proof enough of our intentions. Pakistan has
always been keen to have normal cricket relations with India,"
he said.
"I still say Pakistan and India should have normal
bilateral relations in cricket and there should be regular
exchanges between the two countries," he added.
Afridi explained that his remarks on the talk show were
in response to a question about how the Indians were looking
at the semifinal match result and about some people
introducing politics into cricket with Pakistan.
"There are positive people even in the Indian media but
recently in India we as a team were sad over the way some
sections of the Indian media did stories about us and how they
portrayed us," Afridi said.
He said because of these negative elements, Pakistani
players remained out of the Indian Premier League.
"When you play a cricket match with India, the intensity
level is high but that is only on the field and it is
unfortunate when a wrong colour is given to a match or
relations between players."
Afridi said cricket can bring the two countries closer
and it was a very positive gesture on part of the Indian Prime
Minister to invite his Pakistani counterpart to Mohali, in the
noerthern Indian state of Punjab, for the match.
"I know for a fact that Pakistanis who were in Mohali for
the match enjoyed themselves thoroughly and were looked after
well even though the disappointment of losing the semifinal
was great," he noted.