Virat Kohli and Indian team put bitter rivalry aside, pay tribute to Afridi with BROTHERLY gesture

India-Pakistan clashes in cricket are always special. There is that sense of pride, passion and desire towards the beautiful game that brings joy for people from both borders regardless of the history filled arch rivalry. Truth be told, that's the only moment of togetherness for people from India-Pakistan who want to see both countries unite.

However, there's no denying the fact that players from both the countries share a friendly bond with each other both on and off the field. Continuing the norm, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and co decided to pay tribute to Pakistani legend Shahid Afridi who announced his retirement by offering a special gift.

The Indian cricket captain gifted his India team jersey to Afridi which was signed by players of the team. The picture of Kohli's jersey was uploaded on Twitter by a Pakistani journalist who discovered the gift. 

Virat Kohli's shirt, signed by Indian team, for Shahid Afridi, with a message "always a pleasure playing against you." pic.twitter.com/KexlCjTNeZ

— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) April 15, 2017

Signatures of Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Suresh Raina, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, and coach Ravi Shastri are visible in the image. 

Boom boom Afridi previously retired from the Test and ODI format but continued to captain Pakistan's T20 side till the 2016 World Cup. Pakistan eventually failed to make it into the quarters which  prompted the all-rounder to soon withdraw as skipper. And following his axing from the Pakistan T20 series, Afridi soon hung up his boots during February 2017.

That brought an end to a 20-year-old international career, that comprises of many incredible records during 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 98 T20I matches. Afridi's contribution to Pakistani cricket has been intangible and he will go down as one of Pakistan's greatest all rounders.