Shikhar Dhawan and Shahid Afridi - (Source : @Johns/X.com)
A lot unfolded in the past couple of days, but in the early hours of Sunday, July 20, the World Championship of Legends (WCL) officially remarked that the much-awaited match between India Champions and Pakistan Champions has been called off.
India-Pakistan Match Called Off Officially
Notably, the fans were hurt by the fact that India Champions would have locked horns against Pakistan, a country with which they were on the brink of war a couple of months ago. Following the Pahalgam attack in Kashmir, the two countries have stopped trade and cut off any sort of bilateral relations. Thus, a cricket match was deemed not to have fit right. Amid the growing aggression and anger, the organisers decided to cancel the clash.
However, it is worth noting that even before any official decision was made, several Indian stars such as Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, and Pathan brothers had individually pulled out from the match against Pakistan.
Shahid Afridi The Reason Behind Boycott By India Champions
While Shikhar Dhawan took to Twitter to explain that he had already made up his mind in May 2025 to boycott the clash against Pakistan owing to the Pahalgam attack, the reason behind Bhajji and Pathans pulling out is said to be the presence of Shahid Afridi.
TelecomAsia.net reported that players were unhappy with Shahid Afridi being part of the Pakistan team because of his anti-India narratives, which were quite vocal during India's reaction to the Pahalgam attack that left 26 dead in Kashmir.
Shahid Afridi Makes Anti-India Narratives
In the past two months, Afridi made several anti-India remarks, where he also mocked the Indian army.
“Even if a cracker bursts in India, they blame it on Pakistan. You have an 8 lakh-strong army in Kashmir, yet this happened. This means you are useless, not being able to provide security to people,” Afridi had said on Twitter.
Verbal Fight Between Shikhar And Shahid
It created a stir on social media and Afridi also got into a verbal fight with several Indian stars such as Shikhar Dhawan and Harbhajan Singh.
"Kargil mein bhi haraya tha, already itna gire hue ho aur kitna giroge, bewajah comments pass karne se acha hai apne desh ki taraqqi mai dimag lagao @SAfridiOfficial. Humein hamari Indian Army par bohot garv hai. Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Jai Hind! (We defeated you in the Kargil war. To what levels can you stoop to? Instead of passing unnecessary comments, you should focus on how your country can progress)," tweeted Dhawan in reply to Afridi.
Notably, Shikhar Dhawan posted a mail screenshot on his Twitter profile, where he revealed that he conveyed the message to not play against Pakistan Champions in May 2025.
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