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World Championship of Legends (WCL) owner Harshit Tomar has shared his thoughts on India Champions’ refusal to play against arch-rivals Pakistan Champions in the second edition of the veterans tournament.
The tournament garnered interest when India decided against playing Pakistan in the league stage fixture of the tournament. The decision came after the recent tensions between two neighboring nations.
The highly anticipated India vs. Pakistan Champions fixture was officially called off, just hours before the two sides were set to meet at Edgbaston on 20 July.
Moreover, the high-octane semi-final between the two teams was also cancelled, with the India Champions deciding to not face their arch-rivals in the crucial encounter.
Following this, Pakistan Champions advanced to the final of the WCL 2025.
Now, Harshit Tomar has shared his views during a recent podcast, which was recorded before the finalization of the India-Pakistan semi-final fixture.
–“Everyone has their own way of showing patriotism — perhaps a sportsman shows it by stepping onto the field and winning,” he said.
“Somewhere along the way, we failed to understand the emotions of our country’s people,” he added.
Harshit Tomar further mentioned the other sports matches happening between India and Pakistan.
“We weren’t the first ones to organize such a tournament — there’s a Women’s World Cup this year in Sri Lanka in which Pakistan and India will be facing off each other,” the WCL owner said.
He revealed that the tournament was organized before the tensions flared between India and Pakistan, noting that the ECB is stringent on rules.
“I had finalized the plans for this tournament back in December. The rules are strict here and you have to communicate things in advance with the England Cricket Board (ECB).
The WCL owner noted that he became aware of the situation two days prior to the match.
“Two days before the match, I realized that the India vs Pakistan game was hurting people’s sentiments,” he revealed. Campaigns were running on social media, and the pressure grew in the news.”
The WCL owner further clarified it was a team’s decision and no player expressed desire to play against Pakistan.
“The day the decision was made, the entire Indian team was united. It was a decision made collectively by all 15 — not a single player expressed a desire to play. There could have been a better way to communicate this.”
The WCL owner lamented the miscommunication, stating that the players had wanted to defeat Pakistan as a gift to their people.
“I believe it would have been right if this decision had come along with the team. It was a joint decision. The thing that hurt me was to see some people being called patriots and others being questioned.”
“The whole team is there, and they’re big players, but I don’t want to speak on their behalf. We couldn’t finalize what decision to make, but as sportsmen, we wanted to step onto the field and prove ourselves. We wanted to gift the country something special,” he concluded.
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