Moeen is among the overseas players who decided against returning to India for the remainder of IPL.
However, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal later admitted in an interview that the stadium was evacuated due to a red alert issued in Jammu amidst India-Pakistan tensions at the border.
The game was halted after 10.1 overs, and the BCCI promptly arranged a special train to evacuate players, support staff, commentators and broadcast crew from the region.
The turn of events triggered panic among the overseas members of all teams and many of them flew back home over the weekend. A ceasefire was announced on May 10, and hence, the organizers took the call to restart the cash-rich league from May 17.
However, some of the international players refused to return to India for the remaining matches. Several overseas stars also faced calendar conflicts as a result of the revised schedule.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali, part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad, is among the foreign players who decided against returning to India as well.
For Moeen, who has Pakistani roots, the start of hostilities was frightening since he had family members in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) when India launched Operation Sindoor.
“My parents were actually in Kashmir at the time… in Pakistan, only about an hour away from where the strikes happened probably. Maybe a bit farther. So it was a bit crazy and then they managed to get the only flights out actually on that day. I was glad they got out, but it was crazy,” Moeen said while speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast.
Moeen then shared his own experience in India, adding: “It was mad, obviously there were those attacks in Kashmir before everything really kicked off. Then within no time things just rapidly escalated and all of a sudden we’re in the middle. It felt like we’re in the middle of a war, but obviously we didn’t hear anything (like missiles striking). All of a sudden you’re just scrambling to get out of the country and just to make sure obviously your family’s fine. People are worried about you back home and just to make sure they’re at ease as well.”
Moeen also recalled the unsettling experience among players when the PBKS versus DC fixture was abruptly cancelled.
“People weren’t quite sure what was happening and how things were like. I spoke to a lot of the guys. Some of the guys were like ‘there won’t be a war, everything will be fine. These things have happened before’. Some guys were like, ‘I think there’ll be a war, I think there’ll be some sort of retaliation or whatever you want to call it’. There’s so much lying going on, that it’s hard to believe people — the news outlets in particular and the journalists. You don’t know exactly what’s going on, so that’s the scary bit because you don’t know what’s exactly going on, you don’t know where to stand, you don’t know if things are going to kick off quickly. The thing that we were worried about is flights getting cancelled and we can’t get out. But it must be so hard for the local players or the guys who are Pakistani or Indians stuck in there not knowing what’s going to happen.”
Moeen Ali opened up on his decision to leave India even before the IPL was postponed by a week.
“So the night before they cancelled it… I’m one of those who doesn’t care what we’re playing in the IPL or the PSL. What’s important is to be safe. Or try and be as safe as possible. I mean you’re never safe anywhere in the world. But try to obviously protect your family and kids as much as you can. All that kind of stuff and just make sure everything’s good. I was just out (of the tournament) before they even cancelled it to be honest. To be honest I wasn’t well, so I was really sick at the same time. So I reckon I had some viral thing or whatever it was. I was really really bad, and I was just out. I was just making sure like I was fit enough to just get out of there,” he stated.
Moeen Ali was also grateful of the organisers and the Kolkata franchise for taking really good care of them.
“They looked after us really well. They were like ‘Whatever you want, whatever you need, we’ll try and support you as much as we can’. So they were amazing at that but it was crazy man. It’s crazy to be… not in the middle of it, because you don’t experience anything, but it’s happening around you and it’s obviously around the corner. Obviously having a Pakistani background and being in India while this is happening. I genuinely believe these are the same people, obviously just split by borders, exactly the same people, good people on both sides. Amazing food is the same, everything’s the same,” said Moeen.