No UAE trip! Pakistan sending foreign players home as PSL 2025 'postponed' by PCB amidst tensions with India
Pakistan Super League 2025 has been postponed by PCB | X
Not long after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a week in the backdrop of the tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) too announced the postponement of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Friday.
Teams have begun disbanding with immediate effect and foreign players are being sent home, ESPN Cricinfo said in a report.
READ HERE | IPL 2025 discontinued as tensions escalate on India-Pakistan border
PCB's postponement news came hours after revealing its plans to conduct the remainder of the PSL 2025 matches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, the cricket board later said that they decided to suspend the tournament instead heeding advice made by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. "The decision to postpone has been taken pursuant to advice received from the Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif," the PCB reportedly said in a statement.
The sentiments of the families of the overseas players and the mental well-being of all cricketers involved were among the factors that forced them to take the decision, PCB added.
Meanwhile, news reports earlier the day claimed that the UAE is unlikely to let PCB host the reminder of the tournament in Dubai or anywhere else in the country in the backdrop of the tensions with India. The BCCI and Emirates Cricket share a warm bond and Middle Eastern power is not willing to strain them by opening their stadiums for PSL 2025, the reports had claimed. Jay Shah's presence in the most powerful office of the ICC could have also played a role in it, the reports said.
If the PCB was turned down by the UAE, officially or otherwise, it is likely that they decided to come up with such a stance to save face before the world.
Eight matches remain to be played in PSL 2025, which was originally scheduled to conclude on May 18, Sunday. It was not immediately known when and where will the tournament resume.
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