Ramdas Athawale, the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, did not believe that the World Championship of Legends 2025 match between the Indian and Pakistani champions should have been postponed. The match was initially scheduled for Sunday, July 20.
Following several Indian cricket players’ refusal to play because of the recent terrorist assaults on Pahalgam, Athawale made these comments. The minister added that the general people does not have to become involved in geopolitical discussions or try to relate them to cricket or any other sport for that matter.
Politics shouldn’t be brought into sports. The issue would be more severe if the game had taken place in India. However, this one took place in England. Both in battle and in cricket, we have triumphed over Pakistan. It shouldn’t be politicised by the opposition. The match between India and Pakistan was supposed to take place in England. Pahalgam was in fact attacked by terrorists, and the terrorist camps were subsequently destroyed.
The Times of India cited Athawale as saying, “But the matter of the match is different.”
The WCL committee had previously confirmed the contest’s cancellation in an official announcement. They sincerely apologised in the press release for offending players’ and the public’s feelings. The organisers added that a friendly volleyball match between the two bitter adversaries had inspired the concept. However, an inadequate reaction forced the cancellation of the cricket match.
Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan, and Suresh Raina were among the Indian players who reportedly withdrew from the match, making their position very evident to the public. As a result, the game had to be called off. The remainder of the competition will go according to schedule, but it is unclear what will happen if both teams advance to the championship game.
It’s interesting to note that Athawale’s remarks have generated controversy in the cricket community before. He has already sparked a heated discussion by calling for caste-based reservations in cricket and other sports. He justified this by pointing out that these under-represented groups had long been excluded from athletic venues. Given that sports selection is based on merit, he received harsh criticism for the same.
The next match between the India Champions and the South Africa Champions is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22, at Northampton’s County Ground. After the 11-overs-a-side match ended in a draw according to the DLS method, the Proteas defeated the West Indians by bowl-out to win their opening match of the tournament.
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