New Delhi: Former Pakistani cricket captain Shahid Afridi and retired Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan have locked horns on social media amid rising tensions between the two countries following the Pahalgam terror attack.
In his latest retort on X, Wednesday evening, Afridi posted a photo of a teacup branded with the Samaa TV logo and the caption: “Chouro jeet haar ko, aao tumhey chae pilata hun Shikhar. #FantasticTea” (“Forget winning and losing. Come, I’ll treat you to some tea, Shikhar.”) It was a not-so-subtle reference to the 2018 ‘Fantastic Tea’ meme targeting Indian Air Force pilot, Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who was held captive by the Pakistani Army following the downing of his MiG-21 Bison jet in the aftermath of the Balakot air strikes.
Afridi has been taking swipes at India with the tea barb ever since the Pahalgam terror attack. In a recent appearance on a news show, he dismissed India’s claims that Pakistan was behind the attack and he accused India of making Pakistan the scapegoat.
He took a sharp dig at the Indian media, accusing it of indulging in theatrics in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“It’s shocking that within an hour of the attack, their media turned into Bollywood. I was shocked, but I was also enjoying the remarks the channels made and these people call themselves ‘educated’,” he said on Samaa TV Sunday.
Afridi also took a swipe at India’s cricketing fraternity for pointing fingers at Pakistan “without evidence”.
“Even if a firecracker bursts there, they blame Pakistan,” he said. Afridi then targeted the Indian Army, calling it “nalayak and nikamme” and blaming it for the Pahalgam terror attack.
The comment angered Dhawan who later posted on X, noting how the Indian Army had defeated Pakistan in the Kargil War.
Kargil mein bhi haraya tha, already itna gire hue ho aur kitna giroge, bewajah comments pass karne se acha hai apne desh ki taraqqi mai dimag lagao @SAfridiOfficial. Humein hamari Indian Army par bohot garv hai. Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Jai Hind!https://t.co/5PVA34CNSe
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) April 28, 2025
Afridi didn’t let it go and quote-tweeted Dhawan with the tea jibe.
Chouro jeet haar ko , aao tumhey chae pilata hun Shikhar . #FantasticTea https://t.co/ilEOepsVm0 pic.twitter.com/T45O8o2XUR
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) April 29, 2025
So far, only Pakistani journalist Maliha Rehman has commented on the controversy. On Instagram, she posted an image containing both Afridi and Dhawan’s tweets, siding with Afridi to say that he “seems to be getting tired – and exasperated? – with the cross-border blame game! Isn’t everybody?”
A history of Kashmir remarks
Afridi has a history of making political and controversial comments on Kashmir.
In 2016, he kicked off an uproar with his remark that the Pakistani team had received a lot of support from Kashmiris during the World T20 tournament.
In 2018, he drew flak for calling India’s treatment of Kashmiris ‘appalling’.
Afridi has occasionally stirred controversy in Pakistan as well with his criticism of the country. Speaking at the British Parliament in 2018, he argued Kashmir should be independent—neither a part of India nor Pakistan. He said that Pakistan can’t even manage its own provinces and called the deaths in Kashmir “painful.”
For many Pakistanis, though, Afridi’s bravado on Samaa TV and his response to Dhawan on X hit the right note. Pakistanis were quick to come to their favourite cricketer’s defence–he’s now their hero.
Pakistani X user Rahil Bashir shared old clips of Afridi hammering sixes against Indian bowler R Ashwin with the caption: “Afridi still owning them.”
“There’s a reason he’s the most popular cricketer ever produced by Pakistan,” an elated X user, Sharif Muaz, posted.
(Edited by Prashant)