The India versus Pakistan fixture at the World Championship of Legends 2025, which was supposed to take place at Edgbaston on Sunday (20 July), has been called off by the organisers for “hurting the feelings” and “stirring” emotions.
The match was to feature some of the biggest retired cricketing stars from India and Pakistan, including Yuvraj Singh, Shahid Afridi, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, among others.
The India-Pakistan game at WCL 2025 was already drawing backlash from the netizens, who called out the Indian players’ hypocrisy between public stance and participation in the private league alongside their Pakistani counterparts.
The controversy stemmed from their decision to play against Pakistan months after the Pahalgam terror attack, which had resulted in heightened tensions between the two nations.
On Sunday (July 20), the WCL organisers announced that they wanted to create “happy moments” with the match as sporting ties between the two countries had already resumed, but have now decided to call off the game as it has led to “discomfort” for Indian cricket legends.
“We at WCL have always cherished and loved cricket, and our only aim has been to give fans some good, happy moments. After hearing the news that the Pakistan hockey team will be coming to India this year, and seeing the recent India vs Pakistan volleyball match along with a few other fixtures between the two nations in different sports, we thought of continuing with the India vs Pakistan match at WCL- just to create some happy memories for people around the globe,” the WCL said in a statement.
“But maybe in the process, we ended up hurting the feelings of many and stirring emotions. More than that, we unintentionally caused discomfort to our Indian Cricket Legends, who have brought so much glory to the country, and we ended up affecting the brands who supported us purely out of love for the game.
“Hence, we have decided to call off the India vs Pakistan match.
“We sincerely apologise again for hurting the sentiments and hope people will understand that all we ever wanted was to bring a few happy moments to the fans.”
Even before the statement issued by WCL, former India opener Shikhar Dhawan had already confirmed on social media that he had pulled out of the match against Pakistan, while several media reports also claimed that Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan had also withdrawn from the fixture.
“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,” Dhawan wrote on X.
