WCL Smashes World Records Despite No IND-PAK Clash

The growing advent of the T20 leagues has been taking away all the limelight from international cricket. Different cricketing boards across the globe have launched their leagues, and it's fair to say that all of them have been quite successful, with global stars featuring in them.

After the Indian Premier League (IPL), the richest cricket league in the world, SA20, Big Bash League, The Hundred, Pakistan Super League (PSL) and others have made their presence felt in world cricket. Players from different nations feature in these leagues and have made them a huge success.

The growing popularity of the leagues paved the way for another league, that too of the legends. The World Championship of Legends has been quite successful over the last few years and the latest edition too was a big success for the organisers.

World Championship of Legends Records 409 Million Views

According to the reports in ANI, the World Championship of Legends 2025 has become the second most-watched cricket league in the world. The league recorded a staggering 409M viewers with 20% growth from last season. The main spotlight was taken by the final between the Pakistan Champions and the South Africa Champions. The match ended up getting ranked as one of the most-watched programs across Sony Max in the UK, while delivering historic ratings elsewhere, which is a WCL record.

The WCL 2025 viewership gained massive records this season. In Pakistan, it grabbed the TRP of 6.1, surpassing several bilateral series viewership TRPs. The main reason behind the brilliant WCL TRP is AB de Villiers, who is the GOAT in cricket. The legendary batter slammed a magnificent century and helped his team win the final and get his first title.

Big players in Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Moeen Ali, Chris Lynn, Wayne Parnell, D'Arcy Short, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan and others were part of the league. They were potentially the reasons why the league attracted a lot of buyers.

The World Championship of Legends has been sanctioned by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB). With the kind of popularity that it has gained, it is expected to grow even more with childhood heroes of all players being part of the tournament over the years. Being touted as "Legends World Cup”, the tournament is among the biggest cricket leagues in the world. With it becoming the second most-watched, it is expected that more viewers will tune in to the next edition.

Why did India Champions Pull Out of WCL 2025 Midway?

The 2025 edition of the World Championship of Legends (WCL) was in the news constantly. This is because it was marred by a massive controversy between India and Pakistan. Due to the recent Pahalgam attack followed by border tensions, the Indian players pulled out of the games against Pakistan to be played in this league.

The India Champions team pulled out of the group stage match against the Pakistan Champions in the tournament. If this was not enough, they even pulled out of their semi-final clash against Pakistan. It is believed that a no. of Indian players pulled out of the match. This saw Pakistan advancing to the final, where they lost to the AB de Villiers-led South Africa.

With the India vs Pakistan game not happening, it was almost certain that the league would face a huge loss. India vs Pakistan is one of the greatest rivalries in cricket and has always been a big ticket clash. The game always attracts a lot of money and sky rockets the value of the tournaments, as we have seen in the past. However, it didn't happen in this year's WCL.