India Champions and Pakistan Champions were set to clash in WCL 2025 on July 20.
Following the Pahalgam terror attack, a number of former Indian cricket players declined to play against their fierce rivals and neighbors, forcing the World Championship of Legends (WCL) organizers to call off Sunday's India vs. Pakistan match.
The India vs. Pakistan match, which was scheduled for July 20 at Edgbaston in England, has been canceled. The WCL, which is allegedly co-owned by Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn and Harshit Tomar, has now apologized for "hurting the sentiments."
In its official statement, the WCL stated that the goal of the forthcoming match was to "create some happy memories for people" and that it was the ideal choice because the two nations had previously reestablished their athletic links through other events. They acknowledged that they had "unintentionally" upset "our Indian Cricket Legends" and "impacted the brands who supported" them.
Shikhar Dhawan was the first to pull out from the game, posting on X: “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. Jai Hind.”
The organizers reportedly had no plans for canceling the India Champions vs. Pakistan Champions match. However, with Indian players taking to social media in protest, the WCL management decided to call off the match.
Similarly, 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.
Afridi, a former all-round player, had been a strong opponent of India and had questioned the army's and government's competence following the Pahalgam terror incident, which claimed 26 lives.
“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.
Afridi's appearance only served to increase public ire over the match. India and Pakistan may once more compete in the competition's knockout stages, although it is unclear how the event will proceed.