In a significant development ahead of the much-anticipated India vs Pakistan semi-final at the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025, Indian travel company EaseMyTrip has withdrawn its sponsorship. The company cited national sentiment and political sensitivities as the reason for backing out of the high-profile match.
The clash, scheduled after India secured a dramatic victory over West Indies to reach the knockouts, reignited political tensions between the two rival nations—especially in the wake of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. Previously, India had refused to play its group-stage match against Pakistan, with several players choosing not to participate.
On Wednesday, EaseMyTrip co-founder Nishant Pitti shared a statement on X (formerly Twitter) explaining the company’s position.
“𝑻𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒎,” 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝑷𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊.
“𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒆𝑴𝒚𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒗𝒔 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝑪𝑳. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕. 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔. 𝑱𝒂𝒊 𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅.”
Shikhar Dhawan Responds to Questions Over Participation
Veteran cricketer Shikhar Dhawan also addressed speculation regarding his involvement in the semi-final. The Indian Champions team had previously forfeited their league-stage encounter with Pakistan, and Dhawan’s stance remained unchanged.
“𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑫𝒉𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒏, 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.
“𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰’𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓?”
The situation has once again highlighted the complex intersection of cricket and geopolitics, with sponsors and players increasingly forced to take clear stances amid national sensitivities.
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