India's retaliation shakes up PSL; Warner, other foreign stars under Pakistan army's protection

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board called an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss whether the ongoing Pakistan Super League, which features a number of foreign players, should be halted amid the country’s military conflict with India. The T20 league, which features six franchises and is in its final stages, is currently being staged in Rawalpindi. It is scheduled to wind up on May 18 in Lahore.

A reliable source in the Board said the PCB would follow the advice from the government on continuing the league and it would be holding discussions later on Thursday. Unconfirmed reports claimed that a suspected Indian drone crashed in the parking area of Rawalpindi cricket stadium where PSL is staged. It is learnt that PCB is mulling cancellation of the matches in view of the missile strikes.

"The meeting will review the situation because of the number of drone attacks by India since Wednesday especially in the Punjab province," a source told PTI.

PSL CEO Salman Naseer also met with the overseas players in Rawalpindi and assured them that they had nothing to worry as the PCB was closely monitoring the situation. Some of the big international names who have signed up for the league are David Warner (Karachi Kings), Jason Holder (Islamabad United), and Rassie van der Dussen (Islamabad United) among others.

“Naturally the current scenario may have come under discussion. The players have been given a heavy security blanket by the Pakistan Army," PCB spokesperson Amir Mir said. "There have been surgical strikes on both sides of the border but we don't expect that to affect the PSL. But if, God forbid, things do escalate, we will sit together to decide our next step," he added.

India's military strikes are in retaliation to the April 22 terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were gunned down.

After successful missile attacks on nine locations in Pakistan to dismantle terror infrastructure, India on Thursday said it foiled attempts by the Pakistani military to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India using drones and missiles. India’s defence forces also destroyed a Pakistani air defence system in Lahore, officials said on Thursday.

The Pakistani military attempted to target Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, they said.