Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has appealed to India to provide for ventilators. Speaking to PTI, the Rawalpindi Express said that should India provide Pakistan with 10,000 ventilators, Pakistan would never forget the gesture. He said it was not a matter of nations and their interests, but humanity. Pakistan has over 4,000 cases of coronavirus infections with 61 reported dead.
Pakistan’s first coronavirus case was reported from a man who was arrested in Italy over narcotics smuggling and handed over to Pakistan. The country is also facing a serious lack of medical supplies with the Balochistan Young Doctors Association going on strike due to lack of protective kits. "If India can make 10,000 ventilators for us, Pakistan will remember this gesture forever. But we can only propose the matches. The rest is up to the authorities (to decide),” said Shoaib.
India cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were recently trolled for asking their social media followers to donate to Shahid Afridi's charity foundation which is doing its bit in Pakistan's fight against the deadly virus. "It was inhuman to criticise them. It is not about countries or religion at the moment, it is about humanity," he opined. Akhtar has spent a lot of time in India as a commentator. He fondly recalled his days in Mumbai during the World T20 in 2016, the last time he came to India for work.
"I am forever grateful about 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 in the TV," he remembered. Akhtar used to visit the city's slum areas with his face covered to hand out financial help to elder women there. "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. "I also remember visiting slums of Dharavi and Sion in the wee hours to meet people I worked with," added Akhtar.
