Pakistani cricket commentator, YouTuber, and former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar on Wednesday said that India and Pakistan should help each other come out of the coronavirus crisis as it is not about countries or religion but humanity, as per media reports.

Akhtar said: “If India can make 10,000 ventilators for us, Pakistan will remember this gesture forever.”

This comes after Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were condemned for urging cricket enthusiasts to make a donation towards Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi’s charity.

Expressing his disappointment over the criticism, Akhtar replied: “It was inhuman to criticize them. It is not about countries or religion at the moment, it is about humanity.”

Reminiscing his time in India as a commentator, Akhar added: “I am forever grateful for the love I have received from the people of India. For the first time I am revealing this, whatever I used to earn from India, I made a significant amount there, thirty percent of it, I used to distribute among the low-income staff who used to work with me on the TV.”

The 44-year-old mentioned that he used to visit Mumbai’s slum areas to help the needy and the underprivileged.

“From drivers, runners to my security guys. I took care of a lot of people. I was like if am earning from this country, I have to help my colleagues also,” he said.

“I also remember visiting slums of Dharavi and Sion in the wee hours to meet people I worked with,” he added.

Akhtar, who also played for IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, proposed three-match ODI series between India and Pakistan to raise funds for the fight against Covid-19. The India–Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world.

Notably, the two nations have not played a bilateral cricket series since 2007 due to strained diplomatic relationships between the two neighboring countries. Both teams only meet each other in ICC events.

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