Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has launched a scathing attack on Indian players for pulling out of the match a day before the World Championship of Legends (WCL) clash between the two countries.“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,” Afridi told reporters.The second edition of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) tournament, which is co-owned by Bollywood star Ajay Devgn, started on June 18 at Edgbaston and is scheduled to conclude with the final on August 2.World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh is the captain of the India Champions, while the squad also features the likes of Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, and Varun Aaron, among others.The Pakistan team has in its ranks captain Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, among a host of yesteryear players.“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,” said Afridi.Former India opener Dhawan also shared a statement on X, announcing his stand not to participate in the match against Pakistan.“This is to formally reiterate and confirm that Mr. Shikhar Dhawan will not be participating in any matches against the Pakistan team in the upcoming WCL League. This decision was communicated earlier during our discussion on call and WhatsApp dated 11th May 2025,” read his statement.Dhawan made it clear that he has taken the call in view of the current “geopolitical” situation between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and the ensuing Operation Sindoor carried out by the country.Afridi, without taking any names, lambasted one cricketer and called him a “bad egg.”“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.”“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 sport is bigger, cricket is bigger, and it’s bigger than Shahid Afridi too,” added Afridi.Off-spin legend Harbhajan, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, Yusuf, who is also a Member of Parliament, and Irfan too have conveyed their decision to boycott the match against Pakistan, though they are yet to issue a statement in this regard.The players received a lot of flak on social media for agreeing to play against the Pakistan team.India had defeated Pakistan by five wickets to win the inaugural edition of the six-team legends tournament last year at Edgbaston.
