Dharamsala, May 8: The IPL match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals here on Thursday was cancelled midway following air raid alerts in neighbouring cities of Jammu and Pathankot, putting the entire league at risk of being called off due to India’s ongoing military conflict with Pakistan.
The Punjab side was 122 for 1 in 10.1 overs when lights went out which at first was attributed to floodlight failure. The game had started later than scheduled due to rain before the hill town went dark for some time.
The teams and the assembled fans were eventually evacuated from the stadium for their security. The picturesque ground can accommodate approximately 23,000 spectators and it was packed to about 80 per cent of its capacity at the time of evacuation.
“There was no panic from the spectators. They (spectators and players) were moved out of the stadium very carefully and safely,” a Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association source told PTI.
Several people raised anti-Pakistan slogans while on their way out of the stadium. Prabhsimran Singh was batting at 50 off 28 balls while his opening partner Priyansh Arya made 70 off 34 balls before getting dismissed by pacer T Natarajan when proceedings came to a halt.
The players and support staff of both the teams will now be brought to Delhi aboard a special train from Pathankot, which is about 85km from Dharamsala. The teams will reach Pathankot by road.
Dharamsala’s lone airport and the ones in neighbouring Kangra and Chandigarh are closed for operation right now as part of precautionary measures to thwart Pakistani attacks.
With the cancellation of tonight’s match, it is not clear whether the league will proceed any further and it is learnt that a BCCI meeting is currently in progress amid security concerns raised by the participating foreign players.
Sources say the foreign recruits wants to head home at the earliest.
India launched missile attacks on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir a fortnight after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.
On Thursday, a blackout was enforced in several districts including Pathankot, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Mohali in Punjab and Union Territory Chandigarh amid air raid alarms and reports of explosion-like sounds in Jammu.
IPL’s schedule has already been affected by the developments as the May 11 game between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings in Dharamsala has been moved to Ahmedabad. (PTI)
