PSL 2021: Javed Afridi hints at possible Peshawar Zalmi-Rihanna collaboration

US pop singer Rihanna has been dominating news in South Asia after speaking up about India's farmers protests that have escalated over the last few months.

However, Rihanna has become the centre of curiosity in Pakistan as well, with Peshawar Zalmi fans curious and excited at the same time about a sudden prospect of having the pop queen sing the franchise's anthem ahead of the Pakistan Super League's (PSL) upcoming sixth season.

 Rumours, excitement, and suggestions poured in right after Pakistani businessperson and Peshawar Zalmi owner, Javed Afridi, dropped a mysterious post on Twitter just days before the PSL 2021 is set to commence — February 20.

"RIHANNA FOR ZALMI ANTHEM," Afridi wrote on Twitter, adding a big red question mark.

The Fenty Beauty founder spoke up Tuesday about the farmer protests in India, sharing an article about the movement. "Why aren’t we talking about this," she wrote on Twitter, using the #FarmersProtest hashtag.

Rihanna's tweet sent Bollywood celebrities — including the vituperative Kangana Ranaut — scrambling to somehow one-up the pop icon for speaking against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agricultural reforms.

What are India's #FarmersProtests about?

While there was no indication as to what caused Rihanna — whose songs have done well in India — to suddenly speak up about the grievances of the tens of thousands of farmers who have blocked roads leading into New Delhi for more than two months, sheltering in tractors from the cold.

Last week, Indian police shut down the internet, dug ditches, drove nails into roads, and topped barricades with razor wire to prevent farmers from entering New Delhi after a tractor rally by farmers in the capital turned violent.

Led by Sikh farmers from the wheat and rice-growing state of Punjab in India’s north, the movement has gained a lot of traction now considering that big names, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and Lebanese-born social media personality Mia Khalifa, raised their voices in solidarity.