India Champions will not play their semi-final against Pakistan Champions in the World Championship of Legends due to strained political relations between the two countries.
The match was scheduled in Birmingham for Thursday. Pakistan Champions will progress to the final and play the winners of the second semi-final between Australia Champions and South Africa Champions.
The Indian team — which includes former stars like Shikhar Dhawan, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa among others — expressed their unwillingness to play against Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam and the subsequent ‘Operation Sindoor’ launched by India. The Pakistan team includes Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz and Kamran Akmal among others.
India took a similar stand during the group-stage match against Pakistan earlier in the tournament.
India were set to play Pakistan in the semi-final of the tournament on Thursday at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground. Yuvraj is leading the India side while Mohammad Hafeez is captaining Pakistan.
India Champions advanced to the semi-finals of the ongoing World Championship of Legends after defeating West Indies Champions in just 13.2 overs in their last group match on Tuesday.
The senior men’s team is due to face Pakistan in the Asia Cup in the UAE on September 14, while the women’s team have their ODI World Cup match in Colombo on
October 6.
Earlier, the organisers of WCL said in a statement that they had planned the India-Pakistan league match after hearing news that the Pakistan hockey team will be touring India this year.