Players like Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh pulled out from the India versus Pakistan match of the World Championships of Legend 2025 (WCL), scheduled on July 20 at Birmingham. This is a step the Indian cricketers took due to the recent geopolitical tensions between the two neighboring countries following the brutal Pahalgam attack. Earlier, Harbhajan Singh and the Pathan brothers, Irfan and Yusuf, withdrew their names from the World Championship of Legends match against Pakistan owing to several public backlashes. India, however, managed to pull in players like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, and Vinay Kumar for their WCL tournament. However, after a precise call and WhatsApp interaction, Shikhar Dhawan expressed his decision to not play the match. Dhawan posted his official call-off letter and wrote: "I still stand with what I said on May 11. My country is everything or me and nothing is bigger than that." 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.Jai Hind! 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/gLCwEXcrnR — Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) July 19, 2025 Read also: ICC Plans T20 World Cup Expansion, Two-Tier Test Debated WCL issues apology for hurting sentiments After Indian players pulled out from the India-Pakistan match, WCL organizers issued an official apology letter for hurting sentiments. The statement reads as follows: "Dear All, We at WCL have always cherished and loved cricket, and our only aim has been to give fans some good, happy moments. 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." It added, "But maybe in the process, we ended up hurting the feelings of many and stirring emotions. More than that, we unintentionally caused discomfort to our Indian Cricket Legends, who have brought so much glory to the country, and we ended up affecting the brands who supported us purely out of love for the game.Hence, we have decided to call off the India vs 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."