NEW DELHI: The Pakistan Super League wasn’t the only Twenty20 tournament to be impacted by the spike in India-Pakistan tensions on Thursday.
The Indian Premier League match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was abandoned midway due to floodlights at Dharamsala’s HPCA stadium malfunctioning, India’s cricket board said.
Punjab were batting at 122-1 against Delhi when the match was called off with only one floodlight functioning. Only 10.1 overs of the first innings were bowled after Punjab chose to bat first.
“The Punjab Kings v Delhi Capitals match (Match#58) in Tata IPL was forced to be abandoned due to a significant technical failure at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala,” the Board of Cricket Control in India said in a statement. “Due to a power outage in the area, one of the light towers at the HPCA stadium malfunctioned. BCCI regrets the inconvenience caused to the in-stadium attendees.”
Sunday’s match between Punjab and Mumbai Indians at the same venue had already been moved from Dharamshala to Ahmedabad earlier on Thursday, amid fears of an escalation in the conflict with Pakistan.
BCCI claims abandonment due to floodlight failure
Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the Tibetan exile government, is less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the town of Jammu, where explosions were reported hours earlier.
It was not immediately clear if the power outage was linked to the wider blackouts enforced in several areas in northern India on Thursday evening, as New Delhi accused Pakistan of targeting military stations with drones and missiles.
Dharamshala is one of the major airports in the region which was impacted with airlines cancelling flights and the BCCI said the venue for Sunday’s match was changed due to logistical reasons.
Sunday’s match will now be played in the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat, the state’s cricket association secretary Anil Patel told the Press Trust of India news agency on Thursday.
India struck multiple locations in Pakistan this week after the April 22 attack targeting Hindu tourists in Indian-held Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on its neighbour.
Pakistan, which denies any link to the violence, said on Thursday it shot down 25 drones from India overnight.
The arch-rivals have since exchanged fire across their contested border in Kashmir. The violence has raised fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
With the airport shut down, there was no way for Mumbai to reach Dharamsala. There was another logistical challenge awaiting the Punjab and Delhi squads, as well as broadcast crews, to travel from Dharamsala to their next respective venues.
Both teams will take a 10-hour road journey to New Delhi after the game. Delhi play Gujarat Titans at home next, and Punjab fly from Delhi to Ahmedabad for their next game against the Mumbai,
“With the airport in Dharamsala closed, it would have been a huge logistical challenge for everyone involved,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told Reuters by phone. “Purely due to logistical reasons, we’ve decided to move the match to Ahmedabad.”
The IPL is the world’s richest Twenty20 tournament with celebrity owners and teams offering mouth-watering contracts to attract cricket’s best talents.
Despite the prevailing volatility, Saikia said the foreign players in the 10-team league had no apprehensions about continuing their participation. “They are quite comfortable. Everyone in the league is comfortable,” Saikia said. “The safety and security of every player — be it a local player or a foreigner — every match official and every fan is important for us. We have the clearance of every single authority.”
Bilateral cricket remains suspended between India and Pakistan, who play each other only in multi-team events and mostly at neutral venues. Pakistan players are not allowed in the IPL.
Earlier on Thursday, a PSL match in Rawalpindi was postponed hours before its scheduled start following a drone strike by India close to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
More PSL matches were likely to be rescheduled, the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement. British media reports said some of the seven English cricketers playing in the PSL were considering whether to return home as hostilities escalate.
Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2025
