India Champions pull out of WCL semi-final against Pakistan Champions
Pakistan will go through to the final, and will play either Australia or South Africa
ESPNcricinfo staff
30-Jul-2025 • 22 hrs ago
[File photo] Shoaib Malik and Shikhar Dhawan are part of the World Championship of Legends • Getty Images
India Champions have refused to 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 to be played in Birmingham on Thursday; Pakistan Champions will progress to the final and play the winner of the second semi-final between Australia Champions and South Africa Champions.
The India Champions team, which includes players such as Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa, had also refused to play their group match against Pakistan Champions on July 20.
While the teams had shared points on that occasion, Pakistan Champions progressed to the final after India Champions refused to play the semi-final because they finished top of the group with nine points. India Champions had placed fourth with three points. The event organisers confirmed a 50% refund to the fans who had purchased tickets for the semi-finals.
Sporting relations between India and Pakistan have deteriorated due to the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir in April this year, and the military skirmish that followed between the two.
While the international teams of India and Pakistan have not yet faced each other since then, the men's teams are due to face each other in the Asia Cup in the UAE on September 14, while the women's teams have their ODI World Cup match in Colombo on October 6.