Beyond rivalry: My friendship with Pakistan journalist Shahid Hashmi

By K.R. Nayar
From R. Premadasa Stadium

Colombo. For nearly three decades, we have travelled the world covering cricket and meeting each other at iconic venues across continents. Shahid Akhtar Hashmi from Pakistan, simply known as Shahid Hashmi, is more than a journalist friend. He writes for Agence France-Presse (AFP), speaks on ARY News Television, and has also written for Indian newspapers. Since India-Pakistan matches offer a feast of stories, our job has always been to savour the joy of writing them.

With Shahid Hashmi at the R. Premadasa Stadium press box 

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The animosity between the two nations and the fierce rivalry both on and off the field has never affected our relationship because we wrote only about cricket and nothing else. Whenever our respective team has either won or lost, we’ve congratulated or consoled each other. The noise of politics never entered our space.

Those late-night rides back to the hotel after an India-Pakistan clash remain unforgettable. We would relive every moment — the brilliance, the blunders, the turning points — not as an Indian or a Pakistani, but as two journalists in love with the game. In the end, what mattered more than the result was whether cricket was at its best.

We were not sure of meeting this time with calls for a boycott of Sunday’s match; so it was very pleasing to meet Hashmi in Colombo. Hashmi tweeted a picture of us together with the words: With @KRNayar1, I have a special bond of love, friendship and respect… we prove friendship has no boundaries.

Sometimes it feels like we were school friends who grew up sitting on the same bench. In the press box, it’s always a desk—sometimes benches or chairs. Hashmi and Abdul Majid Bhatti (senior journalist with the Jang Newspaper in Pakistan) had ensured that my stay in Pakistan was comfortable when I had toured with the Indian team in 2003 and 2005. In the UAE, we have reported the Pakistan Super League thrice and almost all of Pakistan’s international series that the Pakistan Cricket Board would host there. 

Shahid Hashmi's tweet 

Hashmi is a great fan of the late legendary Bollywood singer Mohammad Rafi, and sings his songs beautifully. Once in Kolkata, during Pakistan’s tour of India, when the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club organised a musical evening with playback singer Usha Uthup, Hashmi sang an old Hindi number with her on stage. Everyone in the audience loved it immensely.

As cricket writers, we have written hard-hitting stories too, and have had strong opinions as well. But never once did we feel the need to prove each other wrong. Journalism, for us, is about expression, not confrontation. The debates were left to the readers, while our respect for each other remained intact. 

There have also been numerous lighter moments during our interactions over the decades. Birthdays were celebrated in press boxes, cakes cut between deadlines, and some occasional dinners after long match days. Small rituals, perhaps, but ones that built a lifetime of memories.

And somewhere along the way, one realisation quietly settled in: Had it not been for cricket, we may never have met. So today, every India-Pakistan match means something more than just cricket. It is a reunion. Because beyond the boundaries drawn on maps, beyond the noise of rivalry, beyond wins and losses, friendship has found a way to endure, to grow, and to quietly prove that some connections are stronger than borders.