The fate of the ongoing Pakistan Super League 2025 (PSL 2025) is now in jeopardy as several foreign players want to leave the country as soon as possible amid the intense cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.
The PSL 2025 match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings, scheduled for Thursday evening (May 8) at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, has been cancelled after Indian Armed Forces reportedly hit the air defense radars and systems in different parts of Pakistan.
PSL 2025 in trouble as foreign players want to return home amid India-Pakistan tensions
Before this attack, an Indian drone reportedly hit a tree and crashed, damaging the shop’s window, near the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, where the PSL 2025 match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings was scheduled to be hosted on Thursday.
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These attacks have created fear among the players, especially the foreign ones who are participating in the ongoing PSL 2025. Now, many overseas cricketers are looking to leave Pakistan as soon as possible, worried about their safety in the middle of the ongoing PSL season.
Rawalpindi match cancelled after air strike scare
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which had earlier said that the tournament would go on as planned, is now considering moving the rest of the matches to safer places. Karachi, Doha, and Dubai are being considered as possible venues for the rest of the PSL 2025.
A former Pakistani cricketer was quoted as saying by IANS, “A PSL match in Rawalpindi was cancelled following an attack, leaving foreign players in deep shock. The match was tonight. Many are now seeking to leave the country as soon as possible. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will decide after consulting with the government.”
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PCB calls for urgent meeting on May 8
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly called for an urgent meeting with all PSL franchises on Thursday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. All the stakeholders will discuss how to smoothly conduct the remaining matches of PSL 2025.
With rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the PCB is looking at multiple options to avoid disruptions in the tournament. They will also discuss the fate of the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh, which could also be affected if the situation worsens.
India-Pakistan tensions soar after airstrikes and missile attacks
Notably, in response to the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people last month, the Indian government launched precise airstrikes in the early hours of May 7, hitting nine major terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Later that night, Pakistan tried to strike back by targeting several military locations across Northern and Western India using drones and missiles. The Pakistani army targeted the major cities of Northern and Western India, including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.
On the morning of May 8, India again struck back, and this time, they hit and disabled key air defense radars in Pakistan. One of the major radars taken out was in Lahore, escalating tensions.