In the ongoing World Championship of Legends, the clash between India and Pakistan was cancelled after several Indian players decided to withdraw from the tie due to the current situation and tension between the two neighbouring countries. The match, scheduled for July 20 at Edgbaston in Birmingham, was supposed to be India’s first match of the tournament but was cancelled after the Indian legends expressed their unwillingness to play against their arch-rivals.
Speaking to the media on the scheduled match day, Afridi expressed disappointment at India’s withdrawal and directly blamed Shikhar Dhawan for influencing the decision. According to Afridi, Dhawan’s open refusal to play in Afridi’s presence deeply hurt the Indian camp.
Afridi told local journalists,
“𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒈𝒈, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.”
He initially targeted Dhawan without naming him directly, but later blamed him for the controversy.
Afridi calls Dhawan “shameful”
Afridi called Dhawan’s “shameful” and suggested that the entire Indian team should have stayed in India instead of pulling out at the last minute.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚,
” he added.
The cancellation of the match between India and Pakistan at Edgbaston was not just based on internal team decisions. After the announcement of the game, there was a massive uproar on Indian social media platforms. Many people questioned the morality of former Indian players participating in the match with Pakistani cricketers amid tension on the border.
The cancellation of the match is a significant setback to efforts to revive cricketing ties between the two countries. The organisers of the World Championship of Legends 2025 were hoping for star power and crowd energy from the India-Pakistan match, especially as around 18,000 spectators were expected to attend the game at Edgbaston.
Also Read: WCL 2025: India vs Pakistan Champions Clash Cancelled – Big Reason Revealed
