The venue for Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals IPL 2025 clash (on Thursday) and PBKS vs Mumbai Indians match (on Sunday) could be changed after Operation Sindoor. The match which was originally been scheduled to be hosted by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, as the nearest airport is closed. However, the final decision on it has not yet been taken. “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in touch with the Indian government regarding the matter,” sources told NDTV.
Early on Wednesday, the Indian armed forces carried out 24 precision missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), including Muridke and Bahawalpur – strongholds of terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), respectively.
More than 70 terrorists were killed and over 60 wounded in the strikes, sources said, as India significantly degraded the operational capability of these outfits. The attacks, which were carried out at 1:44am, were in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir’s Anantnag district that claimed 26 lives – 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen – on April 22.
With the temporary closure of Dharamsala’s airport following India’s missile strikes on Pakistan’s terror infrastructure, the travel plans of IPL teams which are supposed to play in the hill town have gone for a toss but they have decided to adopt a wait and watch policy for now, said a PTI record. Dharamsala, which is due to host the Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals clash on Thursday, has one more match left on schedule — the May 11 game between Punjab and Mumbai Indians. The picturesque city is the second home base of Punjab Kings, who don’t face any immediate logistical hassle for now as they will be in the city till end of this week.
But Delhi will need to figure out its logistics as the players have to be back at their home base for the game on Sunday.
The Mumbai team’s travel plans to Dharamsala remain unclear at this point.
“Everything is fluid at the moment. Discussions are on with franchises and they are also internally discussing about what are the options of travelling from Dharamsala to Delhi in case the airport remains shut,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
“One option (for Delhi Capitals) remains bus journey but then it is not just about teams but also the broadcast crew and equipment. It’s an evolving situation,” he added.
India carried out precision strikes on nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were murdered.
At least 18 airports in the northern and western parts of the country have been temporarily shut owing to the military escalation. These include Srinagar, Leh, Jammu, Amritsar, Pathankot, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Shimla, Dharamshala and Jamnagar.
Chandigarh, which is the nearest alternate airport for Dharamsala, is among those shut down for operations right now.
(With PTI Inputs)
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