Amid escalating India-Pakistan border tensions, the BCCI on Friday (May 9) announced that it has decided to suspend the remainder of the IPL 2025 with immediate effect for one week.
The media advisory was released by the board secretary Devajit Saikia, who added that further updates regarding the new schedule and venues of the tournament will be announced in due course after security assessment and stakeholder consultation.
Meanwhile, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has supported the BCCI's move to suspend the IPL matches for a week.
"There is a war-like situation in the country, and the BCCI had to do this as there are so many Indian and foreign players. Let's hope the IPL restarts soon, as an important stage of the tournament is around the corner," Ganguly told ANI.
"BCCI had to do this, especially Dharamshala, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jaipur. These are all venues of IPL. It is necessary to do this according to the situation that happened last night. With time, it will get better and matches will also be played. BCCI will complete the IPL, and this situation will end very soon as Pakistan will not be able to handle the pressure for a long time," he continued.
Notably, the match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala was called off midway on Thursday (May 8) due to what the broadcasters called a "technical" issue.
However, HPCA member Sanjay Sharma admitted that the match was halted in the middle of first innings because of security reasons.
"Because of the tension between India and Pakistan, yesterday's match played between Punjab and Delhi was called off in the middle due to security reasons. But because there was a possibility that something like this could have happened, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, the Punjab Kings franchisee, and all the operations staff were already in touch with the administration. The administration was fully aware of this," Sharma said while speaking to ANI.
The BCCI, prioritizing safety, coordinated with Indian Railways and arranged a special train to evacuate players, support staff members, commentators and broadcast crew from the region.
The Indian board may consider using the Asia Cup window to play the remaining IPL 2025 matches, given that the continental tournament remains uncertain in light of the current geopolitical situation.
(With ANI Inputs)
