The veterans’ match between India and Pakistan in the World Championship of Legends, which was set to take place in Birmingham on Sunday, has been cancelled due to the refusal of Indian Players, including Shikhar Dhawan, to participate, citing the Pahalgam terror attack that occurred in April. Although Dhawan had communicated his position on this issue to the organisers in May, he reaffirmed on Saturday that his decision remains unchanged. Following the similar stance taken by several other Indian veterans, such as Harbhajan Singh and the Pathan brothers, the organizers were left with no chance but to cancel the event.
Shikhar Dhawan recent post on ‘X’, “Jo kadam 11 May ko liya, uspe aaj bhi waise hi khada hoo. Mera desh mere liye sab kuch hai, aur desh se badhkar kuch nahi hota” said Dhawan.
On the other hand, the WCL organisers clarified the reasoning for scheduling a match between India and Pakistan, despite the strained political relations existing between the two nations. In a statement, the organisers noted that the recent volleyball match held between the two countries, along with the upcoming hockey event that will feature Pakistan traveling to India, influenced their decision to proceed with this match.
“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.
But may be 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 apologies 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.” WCL said in a post on ‘X’.
