Ramdas Athawale, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, did not believe that the World Championship of Legends 2025 match between India and Pakistan Champions, which was initially scheduled for Sunday, July 20, should have been cancelled.
Athawale’s comments came after a few Indian cricketers stated their refusal to participate following the recent terrorist attacks in Pahalgam. The minister went on to say that the people should not engage or get involved in geopolitical issues that are linked to cricket or any other sport.
“There is no reason to bring politics into sports. If the match was held in India, the situation would be more serious. But this one was in England. We defeated Pakistan in both war and cricket. The opposition should avoid politicising it. The match between India and Pakistan was supposed to be staged in England. Terrorists did really strike Pahalgam, and the terrorist camps were eventually neutralised.
But the match is different,” said Athawale, as published by The Times of India.
Previously, the WCL committee published an official statement confirming the cancellation of the contest. In the press release, they apologised sincerely for offending players and the general public. The organisers also stated that the concept came from a friendly volleyball game between the two old rivals. However, the cricket match had to be cancelled due to an unsatisfactory response.
The game had to be called off when numerous Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan, and Suresh Raina, reportedly backed out, making their views apparent to the public. The rest of the competition will go on as planned, but it remains to be seen what happens if both teams make it to the grand final.
Interestingly, Athawale’s views have caused a stir in the cricketing community before. Previously, he sparked great debate by requesting caste-based reservations in cricket and other sports. His explanation was that these marginalised communities had been excluded from the sporting arena for quite some time. He was widely chastised for this, as selection in athletics is merit-based.
India Champions will next play South Africa Champions on Tuesday, July 22, at County Ground in Northampton. The Proteas won their first game of the tournament via a bowl-out against the West Indians after the 11-overs-a-side ended in a tie as per the DLS method.
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