Salman Butt, a former cricket player for Pakistan, has questioned India's decision to skip the World Championship of Legends (WCL 2025) match against their neighbors. He said that if India is so certain about not playing Pakistan, then the two countries shouldn't play each other in ICC competitions, too.

On Sunday, July 20, a veterans' cricket match between India and Pakistan in the tournament in Birmingham was called off after Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, declined to play, citing the terror attack in Pahalgam three months prior.

“The whole world is talking about them. What message have they sent to cricket as a whole and to the fans? What are you trying to show? What are you trying to prove? Now don’t play in the World Cup…don’t play against us in any ICC tournament. Make this a promise," Butt said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

Co-owned by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, the second edition of the England and Wales Cricket Board competition got underway at Edgbaston in Birmingham on July 18 and is set to conclude on August 2.

“See, we understand that everything has its place. But now that you are interlinking, don’t play against us at any level or tournament. Not even the Olympics. Please do that. I would love to see it. What is this mindset? I just can’t understand. Who is making this decision? Those 4-5 people who decided not to play, because of them, others, who probably had the mindset to play, felt pressured," Butt added.

Butt added that Pakistan will not forget what India did at WCL 2025, and they will keep reminding them of their nationalism if they break their stance in ICC tournaments.

Yuvraj Singh is the skipper of the India Champions, while the team features the likes of Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf and Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, and Varun Aaron, among others.

On the other hand, Mohammad Hafeez captains Pakistan Champions, who have stars like Misbah Ul Haq, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Wahab Riaz, and Saeed Ajmal in their ranks.