 "Shahid Afridi's participation in the India vs Pakistan match at WCL 2025 became a big issue as Indian players pulled out. Images: Reuters/Yuvraj Singh on X")
The World Championship of Legends (WCL) organisers were forced to cancel the Sunday India vs Pakistan match after a host of former Indian cricket team players refused to take the field against their bitter rivals and neighbours in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. Leading the protest from the front was former India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who declared on social media that “My country is everything for me,” while announcing his decision to withdraw from the match against Pakistan.
The WCL, which is reportedly co-owned by Bollywood stars Ajay Devgn and Harshit Tomar, has now apologised for “hurting the sentiments” as they announced the cancellation of the India vs Pakistan match, which was to take place on 20 July at Edgbaston in England.
The WCL, in its official statement, said that they only wanted to “create some happy memories for people” with the upcoming match and felt it was the right decision as the two countries had already resumed sporting ties through other events. They admitted “unintentionally” causing “discomfort to our Indian Cricket Legends” and “affecting the brands who supported” them.
India and Pakistan teams have already competed against each other in tennis and volleyball matches internationally since the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
Afridi’s participation forces WLC to cancel IND vs PAK match
However, it’s important to note that the organisers had no wish to cancel the match until Indian players went against the idea. Dhawan was the most vocal as he took to social media to express his disapproval.
“Jo kadam 11 May ko liya, uspe aaj bhi waise hi khada hoon. Mera desh mere liye sab kuch hai, aur desh se badhkar kuch nahi hota (I still stand by the step I took on 11 May. My country is everything for me and nothing is bigger than the nation,” Dhawan wrote on X, along with a screenshot of a letter that announced that he will not take part in matches against Pakistan.
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View AllSimilarly, India Today and TelecomAsia.net have reported that Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh were not willing to play against Pakistan. As per one of the reports, players were unhappy with Shahid Afridi being part of the Pakistan team.
Former all-rounder Afridi had been a vocal critic of India and after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed, he had questioned the capabilities of the Indian government and the army .
“Even if a cracker bursts in India, they blame it on Pakistan. You have an 8 lakh-strong army in Kashmir, yet this happened. This means you are useless, not being able to provide security to people,” Afridi had said.
India Champions Squad: Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Piyush Chawla, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Gurkeerat Singh Maan.
Pakistan Champions Squad: Mohammad Hafeez (c), Kamran Akmal (wk), Shoaib Malik, Sharjeel Khan, Asif Ali, Umar Amin, Aamer Yamin, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Rumman Raees, Shahid Afridi, Imad Wasim, Fawad Alam, Sohaib Maqsood, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Saeed Ajmal.