Not many would have heard of, or even bothered to follow, the WCL (World Championship of Legends) tournament in England if not for the cancellation of the India/Pakistan match which was slated for Sunday.
Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan led the protests and was joined by Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf and Irfan Pathan on the eve of the match, forcing the organisers to call it off. The tournament, which is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and is co-owned by actor Ajay Devgn, is for retired cricketers, with six teams competing. The public perception, at least, is that it is merely a money-making exhibition event, with matches involving the two nations being the most lucrative.
Dhawan has claimed in a statement that he has text messages from May 11 stating his objection to the match going ahead. It is surprising, therefore, that the organisers went ahead with the schedule, knowing full well the situation around India/Pakistan cricket following the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent military hostilities between the two countries. Their explanation that they did so following “the news that the Pakistan hockey team will be coming to India later this year and seeing the recent India versus Pakistan volleyball match…” is disingenuous at best.
While the Indian government agreed to grant visas to the Pakistan team for the forthcoming Asia Cup and Junior World Cup hockey championships, the Pakistan sports ministry indicated they will not send their teams ostensibly on “security grounds”. The volleyball match in Thailand last week was in the Under-16 Asian Championship, an internationally recognised multilateral event, and India would have risked heavy penalties if it had boycotted the match. Cricket, whether one likes it or not, is so high-profile in the subcontinent that it dances to the beat of a different drum.
It appears the match in question was cancelled just 24 hours beforehand, largely because of a storm that was brewing on social media targeting the Indian veterans’ team. It was a particularly delicate situation for Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan, both sitting MPs with the Aam Aadmi Party and the All India Trinamool Congress, respectively. It appears likely they received a diktat from their parties to boycott the match following the online outrage.
Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, too, is being highly disingenuous in stating politics should be kept out of sports. He has earned a notorious reputation here for his anti-India comments and, following the recent hostilities, had travelled across Pakistan making inflammatory statements. This has led to speculation he may follow former prime minister and cricket legend Imran Khan—currently behind bars—into national politics.
The whole affair could have been easily avoided and smacks of mismanagement, with none of the parties involved emerging with any credit from the fallout.
