‘Now promise not to play Pakistan in World Cup’ – Salman Butt as India warned after WCL fallout

A World Championship of Legends veterans' cricket match between India and Pakistan was cancelled on Sunday when Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, declined to participate, citing the April Pahalgam terror attack.

The tournament's second iteration began on June 18 in Edgbaston and is set to conclude on August 2. The captain of the India legends is Yuvraj Singh, a World Cup winner. Other players in the team include Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, and Varun Aaron.

The match was planned just days after a terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which infuriated many Indian fans. Consequently, a number of former Indian cricket players chose not to participate. The organisers were forced to call off the game because so many players were withdrawing and because supporters were expressing their ire online.

Salman Butt, a former cricket player for Pakistan, has questioned India's decision to skip the World Championship of Legends match against their neighbours. He said that if India is so certain about not playing Pakistan, then the two countries shouldn't play each other in ICC competitions either.

Butt mentioned while speaking on his YouTube channel, “The whole world is talking about them. What message have they sent to cricket as a whole and to the fans? What are you trying to show? What are you trying to prove? Now don’t play in the World Cup…don’t play against us in any ICC tournament. Make this a promise." 

The India-Pakistan match was only scheduled when it was established that the Pakistan hockey team would tour India, according to the WCL 2025 organisers. This led them to conclude that, at the time, there was nothing wrong with the two nations' sporting ties.

Even though the match was cancelled, the WCL 2025 tournament is still in progress. India's champions will now begin their campaign on July 22 against AB de Villiers' South Africa champions. On July 25, the champions of Pakistan and South Africa will play each other again.

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