Kathmandu. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been postponed indefinitely due to rising border tensions between New Delhi and Pakistan, Indian media reported on Friday.
Cricket officials have decided to postpone the T20 tournament after Thursday’s match in Dharamsala was called off.
Dharamsala is less than 200 km from the city of Jammu, where an explosion took place a few hours ago. Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings wrote on X, “Courage in every step. Pride in every beat. Salute to our armed forces!” The account tagged a picture of the armed forces and wrote: “Nation first. Everything else later.” The ten-team IPL began on March 22. The IPL features many cricket stars from around the world and is the sport’s richest tournament.
Lucknow Super Giants were scheduled to host Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday. The final was scheduled for May 25 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and usually attracts a large television audience around the world. Among the foreign stars are Australia’s Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head and Mitch Marsh, while former captain Ricky Ponting is coaching Punjab.
Cricket Australia said in a statement on Friday before the postponement news, “We are closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan and India… and are currently in communication with our players and support staff in the region.” Pakistan Cricket has already decided to move the remaining matches of its T20 league to the United Arab Emirates over player security concerns.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three full-scale wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Kashmir is a disputed territory. Both countries claim full control of Kashmir but administer separate parts.
New Delhi fired missiles early on Wednesday in retaliation for a deadly attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir two weeks ago. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack. Islamabad has denied any involvement. At least 48 people have been killed on both sides of the border since Wednesday in the worst violence between the South Asian neighbours in decades.
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