Champions Trophy 2025: Rabid comments from Rashid Latif shows Pakistan’s true colours | Opinion

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Champions Trophy 2025: One does not need a dictionary or a thesaurus to explain the difference between patriotism and jingoism any longer. For all those who have been watching YouTube and TV shows in India and Pakistan over the last one week, there is a sharp contrast.

Just that the true colours of the tricky Pakistanis are now coming out, where a former international star, Rashid Latif, based in Karachi is raking up plenty of muck. For someone who has played 166 ODIs and 37 Test matches, he has been engaging in constant chatter.

At the same time, from this side of the border, classy off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been bamboozling the Pakistanis just the way he used to bowl the doosra. The big difference is, Bhajji is not resorting to anything ugly, but merely telling Pakistan loudly cricket will go on in India minus the Men and Women in Green.

At first, when the debate started over a hybrid model for the 2025 Champions Trophy, the exchanges on social media, be it from India or Pakistan were tempered. Now it has gone out of control.

There is no difference between Pakistani journalists at large and a cricketer like Latif slamming India like Hafiz Saeed, a well-known terrorist now lodged in jail. He has been identified as one of the biggest architects of the Mumbai 26/11 terror incidents of 2008.

For Rashif Latif to engage in chat shows and first talk of having relatives in Uttar Pradesh in India and then change gears is crazy. He appears to talk of brotherhood at first but then slips into something extremely dangerous which Pakistan is known for.

He makes a clear reference to residing near 'Bhai's' residence. The reference is to a well-known and notorious don who is hiding in Pakistan. Everyone knows what damage he did India to India during the 1993 serial blasts which happened in Bombay, now Mumbai.

Where was the need for Latif to even say this on a show "Caught Behind?" The context and reference is dangerous, as every Indian knows what happened in 1993 and again in 2008. Is this the way a Pakistani cricketer invites India to play cricket across the border? There is no need to mention the name of the dreaded don since he is well known for several wrong reasons.

It is well known Pakistan as a state is unsafe and India has done the best thing by not engaging with them for a very long time. Sports and politics cannot be mixed is an old saying. But none can justify Rashid Latif making a reference to a "Bhai" in Pakistan as if it is a Bollywood movie dialogue.

And if at all Latif has relatives in India in Uttar Pradesh or any other state, they would want to disassociate with him right away. It is one thing to be critical India does not travel to Pakistan.

By saying this and more, Rashid Latif is only strengthening the hands of the ICC, which will take a call most likely on Thursday on how the Champions Trophy will be hosted. No, not even PCB boss Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister in Pakistan can help them now. He was a failure when he visited Dubai last week.

And for all the hate-mongers from Pakistan who claim they will "wreck" four ICC big-ticket events to be hosted by India from 2025 to 2031, this threat does not scare India. Cricket in India does not need Pakistan at all. The saner countries will travel to India as it is safe and a fantastic tourist paradise!