IPL 2025 had been halted earlier this week owing to the political tensions between India and Pakistan.
With the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) reportedly set to resume next week, the BCCI has asked all 10 franchises to assemble by Tuesday in a bid to complete the league. IPL 2025 had been halted earlier this week owing to the political tensions between India and Pakistan.
It has now come to light that none of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) foreign players, except for South Africa’s Marco Jansen flew back home. Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, deboarded his flight back home following the announcement of ceasefire on Saturday and eventually stayed back in Delhi.
The former Australia captain also made sure that his players did not take a flight back home. The players were a little tense due to the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan. However, Ponting has convinced them to stay in India by giving them a pep talk. “It shows Ponting’s character. Only he could have pulled that off,” Satish Menon, Punjab Kings CEO, was quoted as saying by PTI.
After their match against Delhi Capitals on May 8 was abandoned, Punjab Kings travelled from Dharamshala to Delhi via road and rail. The anxious foreign players included Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie and Xavier Bartlett, all of whom are from Australia.
“The foreign players are not used to something like this (war-like situation). So, it was natural for them to feel anxious. Led by Stoinis, they all wanted to leave at the earliest and understandably so. But Ponting convinced them to stay back post ceasefire, which I think is remarkable,” a source within Punjab Kings told PTI.
The game between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals on May 8 was abandoned due to a floodlight failure. Incidentally, just moments before the floodlight failure, Pakistan had reportedly launched a drone attack in some parts of Jammu. Once the game was abandoned, fans were evacuated from the stadium and players were taken to safety.
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Both Punjab Kings (Third place, 15 points) and Delhi Capitals (Fifth place, 13 points) remain in the race to make the IPL 2025 playoffs.
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