Pakistan Champions have withdrawn from the World Championship of Legends after the PCB refused to issue NOCs to their players. The tournament has been under way since 3 October, and the team missed its opener against Bangladesh Champions in Sharjah.
Pakistan Champions are out of the World Championship of Legends 2026. The team has withdrawn from the third season of the tournament after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) refused to issue No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to its players, and it confirmed the decision in an official statement, as ESPNcricinfo's Danyal Rasool reported. The squad was led by Shahid Afridi and included Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez. Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfaraz Ahmed have also been named as part of the group in reports. The tournament has been running since Friday 3 October 2026, and Pakistan Champions have already missed their opening match against Bangladesh Champions in Sharjah.
| The withdrawal at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Tournament | World Championship of Legends (WCL), third season, 2026 |
| Team | Pakistan Champions, led by Shahid Afridi |
| Withdrawal date | Announced on 5 October 2026 in an official team statement |
| Reason | The PCB refused to issue NOCs to the players |
| Tournament start | Friday 3 October 2026 |
| Missed opener | Pakistan Champions v Bangladesh Champions, Sharjah, 3 October, postponed |
| Last season | India Champions twice refused to play Pakistan Champions in WCL 2025 |
Why the PCB refused the NOCs
The refusal is fallout from WCL 2025. Last season India Champions refused to play Pakistan Champions twice, once in the league stage and again in the semi-final. The semi-final boycott sent Pakistan through to the championship match, where they lost to South Africa Champions.
Team owner Kamil Khan formally asked the PCB to reconsider and stayed in discussions with the board, according to cricketwinner.com. The PCB held to its decision.
There is also a report on what the PCB wanted. CricToday claims the board made Pakistan's participation conditional on the Indian players issuing a written apology for last year's boycott and shaking hands with the Pakistan players, and that the WCL organisers rejected those conditions. That account comes from CricToday and has not been confirmed in the team's statement as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
What it means for the tournament
- No Dubai showdown: hungamaofficial.com reports that Pakistan and India were due to meet in Dubai on 10 October under the current schedule. That match will not happen now.
- A headline team gone: the legends league loses one of its biggest draws, and it loses it a few days after the first ball was bowled.
- Postponed opener: the Sharjah game against Bangladesh Champions was postponed after the NOC issue, and the team was then ruled out of the tournament.
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