IPL cricket suspended amid growing India-Pakistan tensions

The Indian Premier League has been suspended, initially for a week, because of concerns about the security situation in the country amid rising tensions along its border with Pakistan. The news came hours after the decision was taken to relocate the final fixtures in the Pakistan Super League to UAE because of safety concerns.

In a statement the IPL said: “Further updates regarding the new schedule and venues of the tournament will be announced in due course after a comprehensive assessment of the situation in consultation with relevant authorities and stakeholders.”

Transport within India has been complicated by the closure of 27 airports over security concerns, including in the host city of Dharamsala. Thursday’s game there between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was abandoned on Thursday after 10.1 overs, with the players and staff of the two teams rushed out of the ground, mingled on each other’s coaches and with some still wearing their pads, before returning to Delhi by chartered train on Friday morning.

Punjab Kings team members evacuate the stadium during the IPL match on Thursday. Photograph: Ashwini Bhatia/AP

Dharamsala is about 80km from Pathankot, site of one of the three Indian military bases targeted by what the Indian military described as “missiles and drones” on Thursday, leading to the decision to abandon the game. “It does not look nice that cricket goes on while the country is at war,” an official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India told the news agency PTI.

Dharamsala is about 80km from Pathankot, site of one of the three Indian military bases targeted by what the Indian military described as “missiles and drones” on Thursday, leading to the decision to abandon the game.

The BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said on Thursday that a decision on the immediate future of the IPL would be taken on Friday after consultation with government officials. “At the moment our priority is the safety of all players, fans and stakeholders,” he said.

With 58 games played and 12 group-stage fixtures remaining, plus four play-off ties, the BCCI must now decide if and how to complete the competition. The option of relocating to the UAE – where the tournament was shifted when it was forced to shut down by the Covid outbreak of 2020 – is off the table because it is already set to host the PSL, but a move to South Africa is feasible, aided by the fact that all six teams in that country’s own franchise tournament, the SA20, are controlled by owners of IPL sides. The IPL was also moved to South Africa in 2009 because it coincided with Indian elections.

A policeman gestures to spectators leaving the game in Dharamshala. Photograph: Ashwini Bhatia/AP

The last time the IPL was shut down, when Covid flared up again in 2021, it resumed and concluded in the UAE that September, and a resumption later this year, after the conclusion of India’s Test series in England, is possible. India are currently due to play six white-ball matches in Bangladesh in August followed by the eight-team Asia Cup in September, which they are due to host.

Both are considered likely to be cancelled, opening a possible window for the IPL to resume in the middle of the English summer, clashing with the Hundred and the knockout stages of the T20 Blast.

Ten English players are currently involved in the IPL: Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Phil Salt and Reece Topley.