The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed a blanket ban on its players’ participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL), accusing the organisers of hypocrisy, bias and bending to nationalist pressures after India refused to play Pakistan in two scheduled matches.
The announcement followed a virtual meeting of the board of governors chaired by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
“The PCB can no longer condone participation in an event where fair play and unbiased administration are compromised by external pressures,” the board said.
The decision came after India forfeited both their group-stage match and the semifinal clash against Pakistan in the WCL — a privately organised T20 competition held in the UK — citing national sentiment in the wake of the recent Pahalgam terror attack and the country’s official stance against sporting ties with Pakistan.
The Indian team, featuring stars like Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, opted out of both encounters. The WCL then awarded points to India in the group stage and cancelled the semifinal, effectively handing Pakistan a direct entry to the final.
The PCB, in its statement, said the WCL’s conduct “reeks of bias masquerading as sensitivity” and accused organisers of prioritising “a specific nationalistic narrative” over cricketing merit.
The apology issued by WCL, co-owned by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, was dismissed by the PCB as “farcical”.
“This sends an unacceptable message to the international sporting community,” the board said. “We are compelled to take a firm stance.”
Earlier, PCB had already barred private teams from using the country’s name after the semi-final fiasco.
Sources said the ban has backing from Pakistan’s Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee (IPC) and legal action could follow if leagues continue to use 'Pakistan' without authorisation.
Indian sponsors, including EaseMyTrip, had pulled out of the match in protest. “Cricket and terror cannot go hand in hand,” co-founder Nishant Pitti wrote on X.
This is Pakistan’s second straight final in the WCL — they lost to India last year — but this time, they got there without bowling a single ball against their fiercest rivals.
