A veterans’ cricket match involving India and Pakistan within the World Championship of Legends in Birmingham on Sunday has been cancelled after Indian gamers, together with Shikhar Dhawan, refused to be part of it citing the Pahalgam terror assault in April.
The second version of the match began on June 18 at Edgbaston and is scheduled for an August 2 remaining. World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh is the captain of the India legends, whereas the squad additionally options the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa and Varun Aaron amongst others.
The WCL organisers shared an announcement on their X account, detailing the choice of cancellation and stated their intention whereas conducting the match was to recreate some “happy memories”.
“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.
“But perhaps within the course of, we ended up hurting the sentiments of many and stirring feelings,” the WCL statement read. The organisers also apologised for “unintentionally inflicting discomfort” to Indian legends.
“Hence, we now have determined to name off the India-Pakistan match. We sincerely apologise once more for hurting the emotions and hope folks will perceive that every one we ever needed was to convey a number of completely happy moments to the followers,” it read.
Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan also shared a statement on X, announcing his stand not to participate in the match against Pakistan.
“This is to formally reiterate and confirm that Mr. Shikhar Dhawan will not be participating in any matches against the Pakistan team in the upcoming WCL League. This decision was communicated earlier during our discussion on call and WhatsApp dated 11th May 2025,” read his statement.
Dhawan made it clear that he has taken the call in view of the current “geopolitical” situation between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack and the ensuing Operation Sindoor carried out by the country.
“In view of the current geopolitical situation and the prevailing tensions between India and Pakistan, Mr. Dhawan and his team have taken this position after due consideration.
“We respectfully request the league’s understanding and cooperation on this matter,” he said in the statement.
India had defeated Pakistan by five wickets to win the inaugural edition of the six-team legends tournament last year in Edgbaston.
