Former Australian legend Brett Lee, who is currently playing in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025 for Australia Champions, has spoken about the cancelled India vs Pakistan Champions clash. The match was scheduled for Sunday, July 20, in Birmingham but was cancelled after several Indian players—Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, and Shikhar Dhawan—declined to take part.
When Lee was asked about the matter by reporters at a press conference, he took a neutral stance, saying: “That is a tough question. But the thing I’ll say right is, I love India, I love Pakistan. So I hope that they can get to a discretion where they can appreciate themselves. But most importantly, we are here on a tournament. So Australia versus India versus South Africa. We are all inclusive. So what happened last night is what happened. We pushed for it.”
Following the cancellation, WCL organisers issued a statement on X, explaining their intent behind planning the match and expressing regret over the resulting backlash.
“After hearing the news that the Pakistan hockey team will be coming to India this year, and seeing the recent India vs Pakistan volleyball match along with a few other fixtures between the two nations in different sports, we thought of continuing with the India vs Pakistan match at WCL, just to create some happy memories for people around the globe. But maybe in the process, we ended up hurting the feelings of many and stirring emotions,” the statement read. “Hence, we have decided to call off the India-Pakistan match. We sincerely apologise again for hurting the sentiments and hope people will understand that all we ever wanted was to bring a few happy moments to the fans.”
Shikhar Dhawan, who was among those to opt out, wrote on social media: “Jo kadam 11 May ko liya, uspe aaj bhi waise hi khada hoon. Mera desh mere liye sab kuch hai, aur desh se badhkar kuch nahi hota.”
Harbhajan Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, along with Yusuf, who also hold MP post, announced their decision to skip the game as well. Their choice came amid growing criticism from fans, who had previously slammed the players for agreeing to participate in a match against Pakistan.
For the latest sports news follow- Revsportz