Amidst reports of England players wanting to leave ongoing PSL 2025 in Pakistan early amidst their military stand-off with India, the Pakistan Cricket Board official has reportedly rebuked such reports.

Cricket players from England are allegedly divided on whether they should stay in Pakistan for the current PSL 2025 after India fired airstrikes over the Kashmir border. The dispute has the potential to escalate into a war between the two nations.

The majority of England cricket players participating in the PSL have chosen to stay in Pakistan, while the remaining players are looking for ways to get back to their home countries, according to The Telegraph. Additionally, the ECB held an emergency call meeting to discuss the situation.

James Vince, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Luke Wood, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are the England players in PSL, while Ravi Bopara and Alexandra Hartley are the England coaches involved in PSL 2025.

However, now the Dawn has reported that PCB spokesperson Amir Mir revealed that the foreign players can’t leave the country due to airspace issues. Pakistan said on Wednesday that its airspace would be closed for 48 hours. Major airlines had started to steer clear of flying over Pakistan prior to that as well.

“The foreign players met PSL chief Salman Naseer at a dinner last night and they had a ‘gup shup’ (informal chat). Naturally, the current scenario may have come under discussion. There is no chance of the foreign players leaving the country anyway, with airspace issues, but they are living under a heavy security blanket of the Pakistan Army.

There have been surgical strikes on both sides of the border but we don’t expect that affecting the PSL. But if, God forbid, things do escalate, we will sit together to decide our next step,” Mir was quoted by Dawn News.

There are many England and New Zealand cricketers in Pakistan currently, participating in the PSL.

Reacting to the issue, the ECB said in a statement, “The board’s approach is to support its players with up-to-date information and expert guidance, while respecting their personal choices in light of the current regional tensions.”

There have been reports that the England camp in PSL are split and some want to return back home. Meanwhile, some players want to remain in Pakistan and wrap up their respective campaigns.