The India-Pakistan match at the World Championship of Legends 2025 scheduled to be played today (July 20) has been cancelled by the organisers. Here's why.
IND vs PAK at WCL: When and where was the match supposed to be played?
India Champions and Pakistan Champions were scheduled to clash at the 2025 World Championship of Legends, a T20 league for veteran cricketers, on Sunday (July 20).
The match was supposed to start at 4:30 pm local time - 9 pm India time - at Edgbaston, Birmingham, one of the four venues being used in the tournament along side the County Ground in Northampton, Grace Road in Leicester, and Headingley at Leeds.
Also read: World Championship of Legends, where to watch live: TV channels and live streaming for WCL 2025
WCL statement: IND vs PAK match called off
Less than 18 hours before the start of the India vs Pakistan match, WCL said in a statement that the game has been called off.
“We at WCL have always cherished and loved cricket, and our only aim has been to give fans some good, happy moments," the statement read.
"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 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."
Why has the India-Pakistan match been cancelled?
Following the Pahalgam terror attack in April where 26 people were killed, mostly Indian tourists, tensions flared between India and Pakistan as the two countries engaged in a short military conflict that ended in a ceasefire. The already strained political relations between the two nations worsened.
Several Indian cricketers who are currently part of the India Champions squad in the WCL, put out statements in support of their country. Shikhar Dhawan, also in the India Champions squad, had engaged in a war of words with former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, also part of the Pakistan Champions squad, on social media after the latter had blamed India for the Pahalgam attacks.
Despite the tensions between the players and the countries in general, WCL had scheduld a match between the two teams for Sunday, leading to widespread backlash, particularly among the Indian public. The India Champions squad also includes Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan, two sitting members of parliament, a fact that was not taken well by fans.
Reports started emerging of several Indian players boycotting the Pakistan match on Saturday (July 19), with Dhawan being the first to put out a public statement saying that he continues to stand by his stance of not playing against Pakistan.
The WCL then put out an official statement at 4:18 am India time, calling off the India-Pakistan match less than 18 hours before the scheduled start time.
Who are the World Championship of Legends owners?
The World Championship of Legends is an ECB-approved T20 tournament without full T20 status. The owners of WCL are Harshit Tomar, an Indian rapper, and Ajay Devgn, a Bollywood actor.
The first edition of the WCL was played in 2024, where India Champions defeated Pakistan Champions in the final by five wickets. This season, three matches have been played so far; with Pakistan Champions beating England Champions in the first, the second between West Indies and South Africa Champions ending in a tie, and the third between England and Australia Champions being washed out.
The remaining matches of WCL 2025 remain unaffected as of now.
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