WCL wanted ‘happy moments’ but India vs Pakistan being called off becomes a cautionary tale of ignoring public sentiment

The match between India and Pakistan Champions was called off in the World Championship of Legends on Sunday.

In theory, keeping sports and politics separate is a common and popular refrain, but in reality, it is impossible to do so. The overlap is tangible, the ramifications of pursuing the former without acknowledging the ground reality huge and occasionally irreversible. It’s through this prism that the forced decision of the organisers to cancel Sunday’s India-Pakistan league fixture in the second edition of the World Championship of Legends must be viewed.

India vs Pakistan WCL match was scheduled for July 20 (Files)

Since the heinous attack on innocent and unsuspecting tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, Indo-Pak relations have hit a new low. India’s searing counter-surge a fortnight later and the subsequent tenuous ceasefire announcement have done little to quell the outrage in all quarters in India. Perhaps, the organisers did not read the room, so to say, by pencilling in a clash between the two Asian neighbours in Birmingham for Sunday before abruptly having to pull the plug on the contest following a slew of withdrawals from the Indian camp. How much of it has to do with the presence in the Pakistan team of Shahid Afridi, who made insensitive remarks against the Indian Army in the aftermath of the Pahalgam tragedy, is hardly a matter of conjecture.

Could this late development have been avoided? Most certainly. After all, more than two months back, on May 11, Shikhar Dhawan had officially communicated his decision to not play in matches against Pakistan in view of the current ‘geopolitical situation and prevailing tensions between India and Pakistan.’ It should have been obvious even at that stage that Dhawan wouldn’t be the only one to adopt that stance. Harbhajan Singh, and Pathan brothers Yusuf and Irfan, followed suit on the eve of the faceoff in Birmingham, forcing the hasty cancellation of the match and a statement from the WCL, sincerely apologising for ‘hurting sentiments’.

The WCL, which began on Friday, runs through until August 2 and it remains to be seen what will happen if India and Pakistan set up a knockout encounter. It is difficult to envision the players changing their position just because it is a knockout game. Maybe greater thought should have gone into the event itself, but that’s all in the past. This is one more instance where one simply can’t say ‘the show must go on’ and get on with things.

Only time will tell what the fallout of this development is. As of now, India and Pakistan could run into each other later this year in a series of international competitions across disciplines. India are scheduled to host hockey’s Asia Cup in August and the Junior Hockey World Cup in November-December. Additionally, the Junior Shooting World Cup and the World Para Athletics Champions are due to be held in India in September and October respectively. The Indian government has given its approval for Pakistan’s participation in these events by formally stating that visas to Pakistan contingents will not be withheld.

India vs Pakistan in ICC-recognised games

Between September and November, India are to host the 50-over Women’s World Cup; already, the India-Pakistan contest has been moved to Colombo – Pakistan will play all their matches in the Sri Lankan capital. In addition, there is the as-yet-undecided 20-over Asia Cup for men, for which India are nominally the hosts though if the tournament is staged, it will most likely be in the UAE in September. Dhawan and Co. have thrown down the gauntlet. Does this mean there will be pressure on other Indian teams to boycott matches against Pakistan? What will the government’s stated position be, and if there is no firm edict from the policymakers, what will be the repercussions be if players/teams choose to withdraw from Pakistan contests? These are all questions that are up in the air currently. A clearer picture is likely to emerge over the coming weeks.

As for Dhawan and his comrades who pulled out of the match against Pakistan, all they have done is follow their heart and potentially heeded public sentiment. In some ways, they found themselves in an impossible place. As serious as they might be in their preparations for the ‘legends’ events, it isn’t the same as, say, a Junior Hockey World Cup or an Asia Cup in any discipline. The stakes aren’t as high, but the fallout could have been no less pronounced or obvious. They faced the threat of being labelled as ‘mercenaries’ and ‘anti-national’ at the very least, but more than the fear of backlash from elsewhere, their calls were presumably influenced by their respective inner voices.

Fact is, this episode could have been easily prevented with just a little bit of commonsense and prudence. ‘Happy memories’, which the WCL organisers said they were intending to create, do sometimes come at a heavy price.