India Champions refused to play Pakistan in league stage and then in semi-final.
The WCL's statement and actions when India Legends decided to withdraw from the semi-final match against Pakistan were "tainted with hypocrisy and bias," according to the cricket regulatory body of Pakistan.
Shikhar Dhawan was among the Indian players who had expressed their reluctance to play against Pakistan in Birmingham during the tournament's league round. Before Team India decided to withdraw from the match, the two teams were scheduled to play each other again in the semi-finals.
“The PCB, during its 79th BoG meeting held virtually under the chairmanship of Mohsin Naqvi, reviewed with considerable disappointment WCL's appalling conduct of awarding points to a willfully forfeiting team and the content of the press releases of the WCL announcing the cancellation of the scheduled India vs. Pakistan legends matches, which were tainted with hypocrisy and bias.
The contents of the said press releases highlight a duality where the narrative of “peace through sport” is selectively applied and sporting events are held hostage to political expediency and narrow commercial interests.
In light of this unfortunate development, which underscores a clear and intolerable pattern of external influence and a disregard for the principles of sporting neutrality, the Pakistan Cricket Board is compelled to take a firm stance. The PCB can no longer condone participation in an event where the fundamental principles of fair play and unbiased administration are compromised by external pressures,” read the statement by PCB.
Salman Naseer, Zaheer Abbas, Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Sajjad Ali Khokhar, Zafarullah Jadgal, Tanveer Ahmed, Tariq Sarwar, Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, Anwaar Ahmad Khan, Adnan Malik, Usman Wahla (special invitee), and Mir Hassan Naqvi (additional secretary) were among those who attended the PCB's virtual BoG meeting.
(IANS inputs)