Former all-rounder Shahid Afridi, on Monday, launched a scathing attack after several Indian players pulled out of the match against Pakistan in the second edition of the World Championship of Legends, leading the organisers to cancel Sunday’s fixture at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
According to reports, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan were among the first to withdraw from participating in the match against Pakistan, following public backlash, in reference to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
Although there was no official confirmation about these players, veteran Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan made it official on his social media handle, explaining that he decided not to play in the game in view of the current “geopolitical” situation between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam incident.
The situation led WCL to cancel the game, with the organisers apologising for “unintentionally causing discomfort” to Indian legends.
Speaking to the media, Afridi stressed the need to separate politics from sport. He said: “We are here to play cricket, and I’ve always said that cricket should be kept away from politics — it should move forward. A player should be a good ambassador, not a source of embarrassment for their country.”
The former Pakistan captain also criticised India for their last-minute decision, pointing out that their players even held a practice session before their tournament opener against Pakistan Champions.
“We’ve come here to play cricket. If [India] didn’t want to play against Pakistan, they should’ve refused before coming here. But now you’ve arrived, even held practice sessions, and then suddenly changed everything in a single day,” he added.
Pakistan Champions owner Kamil Khan confirmed that the WCL will continue as per the fixture decided, with no changes ahead. He further said that WCL will likely step in if the two teams are slated to face each other in the knockout rounds.
“All the remaining matches are taking place. The tournament is going on as per schedule, and there are no changes. As for the semifinals and final, we’re currently saying that if we make it to the semifinals, there will be four teams, and we will avoid matches between the two teams,” he said.
“If we reach the final, then the decisions regarding that will be made then. And as for this match, the two points will be awarded to us, and we deserve those points as per the rules,” he added.
Afridi, meanwhile, called for unifying the two neighbouring countries through sports and reflected on the spirit of cricket.
“Sports bring people closer, but if politics gets involved in everything, how will we move forward? Until we sit together and discuss issues, nothing will improve — lack of communication only makes things worse,” he said. “We’ve come here to play cricket, to have one-on-one interactions and friendly conversations. But sometimes, there’s one bad egg that spoils everything for everyone else.”
Few media reports even suggested that Afridi’s presence was the primary reason behind Indian players pulling out of the match. The 48-year-old had made a controversial anti-India remark shortly after the Pahalgam attack was attributed to the Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba — which had sparked widespread anger.
Afridi said that had he known, he would have avoided being at the venue altogether.
“If I had known the match was being stopped because of me, I wouldn’t have even gone to the ground. But cricket should go on. What is Shahid Afridi in front of cricket? Nothing,” he said.
“The game comes first. As a sport, cricket is the biggest thing. Bringing politics into it or an Indian cricketer saying he won’t play against Pakistan — then don’t play, just sit out. But sports is bigger, cricket is bigger, and it’s bigger than Shahid Afridi too,” he concluded.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
