The India vs Pakistan clash in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025, which was to be played in Birmingham, has been called off by the tournament organizers.
The 4th match of the season 2 between the two teams was scheduled for Sunday, July 20, before the poster of the clash went viral.
The participation of Indian players drew disappointment from the fans following the recent cross-border tensions in April between the neighboring countries.
Citing the fan reaction, Harbhajan Singh and the Pathan brothers were among the first few names from the India Legends squad to start pulling out of the match on Saturday evening.
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As the criticisms reached the organizing committee, the game was eventually called off — the rest of the tournament will continue as per the schedule.
Here's what organizers had to say.
READ MORE: WCL 2025: TV channel, live stream and how to watch in India
Explained: Why the India Legends vs Pakistan Legends match is called off?
In the early hours of the match day on Sunday, the WCL official X handle addressed the fans reactions over the last 24 hours and apologized for hurting their sentiments with a release.
"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," the statement read.
"Hence, we have decided to call off the India vs Pakistan match," they added after also touching upon the issue of Indian players announcing non-participation for the game.
Dear all , pic.twitter.com/ViIlA3ZrLl
— World Championship Of Legends (@WclLeague) July 19, 2025
The defending champions India, were scheduled to kick-start their 2025 campaign with this match against their arch-rivals.
On the other hand, Pakistan had won the closely fought season opener against England on July 18 by 5 runs.
Captain Mohammad Hafeez had scored a 54(34) to help Pakistan post a total of 160/9 while batting first,
Pakistan was able to restrict England to 155/3 despite Phil Mustard and Ian Bell scoring 58 (51) and 51*(35) respectively.
India will now play their first match of the season 2 against South Africa on Tuesday, July 22.