The much-anticipated veterans’ cricket match between India and Pakistan in the ongoing World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025 has been cancelled. The decision came after Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, declined to participate due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the two nations.
Dhawan, Indian Players Refuse to Play Pakistan
The game, scheduled to be held on Sunday in Birmingham, was set to be India’s first appearance in the tournament. However, Indian cricketers took a firm stand, citing the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, which also led to temporary suspensions of both the IPL and PSL.
“𝑰𝒏 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏, 𝑴𝒓. 𝑫𝒉𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑫𝒉𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂.
He further clarified,
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑴𝒓. 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒓 𝑫𝒉𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝑪𝑳 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆.”
Organisers Respond to India’s Concerns
The WCL organisers, while expressing regret, respected India’s stance and announced the cancellation of the high-profile encounter. They clarified that the match was planned after observing recent sports interactions between India and Pakistan, including a U-16 volleyball match and news of a potential tour by the Pakistan hockey team to India.
The organisers said,
“𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔.”
Tournament Format and Uncertain Future Clashes
The second edition of WCL 2025 began on July 18 and features teams from India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, England, and the West Indies. All six teams will face each other once in the league stage before the top four proceed to the semi-finals on July 31, followed by the final on August 2.
Led by Yuvraj Singh, India was to debut against Pakistan, captained by Mohammad Hafeez. While the match has been cancelled for now, it remains uncertain how the tournament will handle a potential India vs Pakistan knockout clash later in the competition.
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