Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Indian players refused to participate in matches against Pakistan in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) and even walked out of the tournament in the Semi Finals. Former Indian Cricketer, Harbhajan Singh has reiterated his stance on boycotting these matches until the tensions between the two countries is resolved.
The Indian legend stated that cricket is not above the lives of the soldiers who sacrifice for the country’s safety. He even agreed with the stand taken by the Indian Government that ‘Khoon aur paani ek saath nahi beh sakte (blood and water cannot co-exist).’ The cricketer has stated clearly that he believes that there should be no match until the big issues are resolved.
“They need to understand what is important and what is not. This is as simple as that. For me, the soldier who stands on the border, whose family often doesn’t get to see him, who sometimes sacrifices his life and never returns home – their sacrifice is so immense for all of us. Compared to that, this is a very small thing, that we can’t skip playing one cricket match. It’s a very small matter,” Harbhajan said.
“Our government has the same stance, ‘Khoon aur paani ek saath nahi beh sakte.’ (blood and water cannot co-exist). It cannot be the case that there’s fighting on the border, tensions between the two nations, and we go to play cricket. Until these big issues are resolved, cricket is a very small matter. The nation always comes first,” he added.
Just a few days after Indian legends refused to play Pakistan in WCL, the Asia Cup 2025 schedule was announced, with India and Pakistan drawn in the same group. This left some former cricketers, fans and pundits upset with the stance of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Harbhajan is standing with them.
