PSL Postponed Indefinitely Due to India-Pakistan Tensions

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been postponed for now. The tournament was supposed to move to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but those plans have been dropped.

The league was stopped on Thursday because of rising tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region. The players had gone to the UAE on Friday, hoping the matches could continue there. But now, those plans have also been cancelled.

Stay informed with the latest news. Follow DXB News Network on WhatsApp Channel  

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been paused for one week because of safety concerns.

On Thursday night, India claimed that Pakistan attacked three of its military bases using drones and missiles. Pakistan denied this.

Some news reports from India said that the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) didn’t want to host the PSL because of security risks and because it didn’t want to upset the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI). But sources in the UAE told BBC Sport that the Emirates Cricket Board never refused to host the tournament. A senior PSL official also confirmed this and said the UAE had not rejected the idea.

According to the official, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday. After the meeting, they decided to focus on the bigger situation happening in the country instead of the tournament.

Pakistani officials say that since Wednesday morning, 31 people have died and 57 have been injured due to Indian air strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Last month, 26 civilians were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. India has blamed Pakistan for helping the attackers involved, but Pakistan strongly denies this.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said, “The situation has become worse in the last 24 hours. We took this decision after getting advice from our Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif. Cricket brings people together and gives us joy, but right now, we must stop and focus on the serious problems our country is facing.”

The PCB also said they care about the mental health of their players and understand the concerns of the foreign players’ families, who want their loved ones to return home safely.

There are still eight matches left in the 10th season of the PSL, which was supposed to end on May 18. The UAE has hosted PSL matches in the past, most recently in 2021. For more than 10 years, Pakistan’s national cricket team played their “home” matches in the UAE after a 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.