The World Championship in legends between India and Pakistan is likely to be canceled. India has learned today that most Indian players want to boycott the match due to the ongoing geopolitical tension between the two countries.
Resources today said India that the team is ready to take a similar attitude to the one that took in a group match against Pakistan earlier in the tournament. In this game, the best former Indian crickets called for a boycott of Pakistan after the Sindoor operation.
India was ready to play Pakistan in the semifinals of the tournament 31. July at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. On the eve of the match, however, one of the sponsors of the Indian team, Easemytrip, pulled out from the semifinals and said that terror and cricket could not go hand in hand.
In a public statement about X, founder of the company, Nishant Pitti, he said that while applauding India Champions for achieving the semifinals of the exhibition tournament, they do not want to be associated with the matches where Pakistan is.
“We are applauding the India @india_champions team for their excellent performance at the World Championship in the legends, you have made a nation proud. The upcoming semifinal against Pakistan is not just another game. Terror and cricket cannot go hand in hand.
At the beginning of the India tournament, her group match against Pakistan fell after several players pulled out of the collision. Shikhar Dhawan and Harbhajan Singh were prominent characters that started this boycotting.
Dhawan shared a picture of the previous mail with the WCL authorities, stating that he would not participate in matches against Pakistan due to the ongoing geopolitical tension between countries.
27 July, during the Indian group phase against England, Shikhar Dhawan was asked by one of the fans at the stadium to play in the potential semifinal of the team against Pakistan. Dhawan, visibly irritated by the question, gave a strict answer.
“Brother, right now you ask this question in the wrong place. If you ask, do you think I’ll answer? You shouldn’t ask about this question. And if I didn’t play before, then I still won’t play,” Dhawan said in a cold voice.
Shahid Afridi Stokes Fire
After India pulled out the Group Stage against Pakistan, the controversial Pakistan Kricet Shahid Afridi Afridi by a fire surrounding the situation.
In an interview with the local media on July 20, the Shahid, the day of the group’s match, claimed that even Indian crickets were disappointed that they were not playing the game, and blaming Shikhar Dhawan, who publicly announced that he would not play an exhibition match.
Afridi called Dhawan for “rotten eggs” and accused him of “spoiling” the rest of the Indian crickets.
“… Sport closer to the country closer. If politics comes between everything you move forward? Without communication, things cannot be solved. The idea of these events is also to meet one on one.
Afridi added fuel to the fire by indicating that Dhawan was embarrassed for his nation. He also said that the Indian team was supposed to stay at home if they did not want to play cricket at WCL 2025.
“They trained the day before the match. I think they pulled out for only one guys. Even the Indian team is very disappointed. They were here to play. I tell you, you should be a good ambassador to Earth, not embarrassment,” Afridi said.
Double standards of Shahid Afridi
The words of sports diplomacy come in sharp contrast to Shahid Afridi comments in April, where he claimed that the Indian government had attacked its own citizens in Pahalgam.
“The terrorists continued killing people in Pahalgam for an hour and not even a single Indian soldier out of 8 Lakhs appeared. But when they did it, they blamed Pakistan,” Afrids told local reporters in Pakistan.
“India performs terrorism itself, kills its own people, and then blames Pakistan,” he said.
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Published:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
July 30, 2025
