WCL 2025: India players set to boycott semi-final match vs Pakistan

The World Championship of Legends match between India and Pakistan is likely to be cancelled. India Today has learnt that the majority of the Indian players want to boycott the match due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the two countries.

Sources told India Today that the team is set to take a similar stand to the one they took in the group-stage match against Pakistan earlier in the tournament. In that game, several top former India cricketers had called for a boycott of Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.

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India were set to play Pakistan in the semi-final of the tournament on July 31 at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. However, on the eve of the match, one of the sponsors of the Indian team, EaseMyTrip, pulled out of the semi-final game, stating that terror and cricket cannot go hand in hand.

In a public statement on X, the founder of the company, Nishant Pitti, said that while they applaud India Champions for reaching the semi-final of the exhibition tournament, they do not wish to be associated with matches where Pakistan are involved.

“We applaud Team India @India_Champions for their outstanding performance in the World Championship of Legends, you’ve made the nation proud. However, the upcoming semi-final against Pakistan is not just another game. Terror and cricket cannot go hand in hand. EaseMyTrip, we stand with India. We cannot support any event that attempts to normalise relations with a country that promotes terrorism. The people of India have spoken and we hear them. EaseMyTrip will not be associated with the India vs Pakistan match in WCL. Some things are bigger than sport. Nation first, business later. Always. Jai Hind,” founder Nishant Pitti said in a statement.

Earlier in the tournament, India had forfeited their group-stage match against Pakistan after several players pulled out of the clash. Shikhar Dhawan and Harbhajan Singh were prominent figures who initiated that boycott.

Dhawan had shared a screenshot of a previous mail with the WCL authorities where he had stated that he would not be participating in matches against Pakistan due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the countries.

On July 27, during India's group-stage game against England, Shikhar Dhawan was asked by one of the fans in the stadium if he would be playing in the team's potential semi-final against Pakistan. Dhawan, visibly irritated by the question, gave a stern reply.

"Brother, you're asking this question at the wrong place right now. If you're asking that, do you think I’m going to answer? You shouldn't be asking this question. And if I haven’t played earlier, then I still won’t play," Dhawan said in a cold voice.

Shahid Afridi Stokes Fire

After India pulled out of the group-stage fixture against Pakistan, controversial Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi stoked the fire surrounding the whole situation.

Speaking to the local media on July 20, the day the group-stage match was scheduled to be played, Shahid Afridi claimed that even the Indian cricketers were disappointed to not play the game and blamed the pull-out on Shikhar Dhawan, who had publicly announced that he would not play the exhibition match if Afridi was part of the Pakistan line-up.

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Afridi called Dhawan a "rotten egg" and blamed him for "spoiling" the rest of the Indian cricketers.

"...Sports brings countries closer. If politics comes between everything then how will you move forward? Without communication, things cannot be solved. The idea for these kinds of events is also to meet one-on-one. But you know, there is always one rotten egg, which spoils everything," Shahid Afridi told the media on Sunday, July 20.

Afridi further added fuel to the fire by insinuating that Dhawan was an embarrassment for his nation. He went on to say that the Indian team should have stayed home if they did not want to play cricket at the WCL 2025.

"They trained a day before the match. I think that they pulled out just because of one guy. Even the Indian team is very disappointed. They were here to play. I am telling you, you should be a good ambassador for the country, not an embarrassment," Afridi said. advertisement Shahid Afridi's Double Standards The words of sports diplomacy come in sharp contrast to the comments made by Shahid Afridi in the month of April, where he had alleged that the Indian government carried out attacks on its own citizens in Pahalgam. "The terrorists continued to kill people in Pahalgam for an hour, and not a single Indian soldier out of 8 lakh showed up. But when they did, they blamed Pakistan," Afridi had told local reporters in Pakistan. "India carries out terrorism itself, kills its own people, and then puts the blame on Pakistan," he said.

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