The 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) had to be briefly suspended due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan. The suspension started with a match between the Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings literally being abandoned after 10.1 overs were bowled in Dharamsala.
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In the months since, there have been a few accounts from players, notably Australia women’s captain Alyssa Healy, whose husband Mitchell Starc was playing for the Capitals, and now, former Australia batter Matthew Hayden has revealed how the entire incident unfolded for the commentators.
“I’d flown from Mumbai overnight to Delhi because there wasn’t a connecting flight with Punjab’s home ground (for that game) Dharamsala. Magnificent ground. But by the time I landed in Delhi, there was no airport open,” said Hayden on the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast. “It was at the time that coincided with the incursion of Pakistan back into India and we were talking drones navigating across the skies, taking out ground to air missiles and it was just eerie. We had to take a car via Chandigarh up to Dharamsala. That’s a 11 and a half, 12 hour drive. By the time we reached the venue we were told the game was about to proceed.”
The first signs of something unusual unfolding were the lights at the stadium going off. While it had seemed like a technical issue on air, eventually the whole stadium went dark and reports emerged of the venue being evacuated due to threat of a drone strike. A number of major Indian cities had done blackout drills during that period. Hayden said that the commentators were told before the match that the lights going out will not be a technical issue. “But half an hour before we went on air we were given a security message that if the light towers were to to go out, it’s not a technical issue. It’s actually a sign that the venue has been compromised and there will be an emergency evacuation response and we will proceed,” he said.
“I was mid-sentence with my usual garbage on air and the first light tower goes out so I’ve let the spectators and fans know that it has gone out. Then the second goes almost immediately. Next minute security came in like a blanket. Dropped my mic literally mid-sentence and we were ushered out of the ground,” he said.
Hayden noted that the IPL has been a “great survivor” considering the myriad events it has managed to see through over the course of its existence. “It’s been a great survivor and it’s lasted incredible events historically for India. It got moved in the second year to South Africa due to elections. We had Covid and it seemed to survive that we moved to Dubai over to the middle east,” he said.
