New Delhi: With the World Championship of Legends (WCL) moving to its business end, India Champions have finally found something going their way: on Tuesday, they won their final group game against West Indies Champions by five wickets to secure a spot in the semi-finals. But now comes the big question: will they play in the semis? Because the game will be against Pakistan, a team India had refused to play in the league stage due to the terror attack in India earlier this year.
The win on Tuesday helped the Indians leap over England into fourth spot, days after England had defeated them in the tournament. While both teams have the same number of points, India go through because of a better net run rate.
Leading the charts are Pakistan, which have not lost in the tournament. Close second are South Africa Champions, led by AB de Villiers, who had won four out of their five league matches. Their only loss came against the Pakistan Champions.
Earlier, the India Champions vs Pakistan Champions match was cancelled by the organisers after several India Champions stars called for a boycott of their opening contest in the tournament. Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan announced his decision not to feature in the match in Birmingham late on Saturday through social media, owing to the geopolitical conflicts that have arisen post the Pahalgam terror attacks in April this year.
The Yuvraj Singh-led India Champions were having a horrendous tournament, with the side languishing at the bottom of the WCL points table with three losses in four games, with the solitary point coming in from the no-result game against Pakistan.
World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025 Standings
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Pakistan Champions (Q) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2.494 |
| South Africa Champions (Q) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2.608 |
| Australia Champions (Q) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -1.523 |
| India Champions | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -0.678 |
| England Champions | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -0.797 |
| West Indies Champions | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1.974 |
