Most foreign recruits in IPL franchises left for their respective countries on Saturday following the high-level T20 League that was interrupted for a week due to the India-Pakistan border tension. The Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended on Friday, one day after the Punjab Kings VS Delhi Capitals match in Dharamsala was abandoned halfway as aerial raid alerts in the neighboring cities of Jammu and Pathankot. With the suspended tournament, the players and support staff of various franchises began to return to their natal cities, while several foreign players are linked to the house.
“Our players and extended staff have returned safely to Bengaluru and are now confined to their respective cities and countries,” RCB said in a statement.
The RCB foreign contingent includes Tim David, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd, Philip Salt, Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi and Nuwan Thushara.
Among foreign support staff are head coach Andy Flower, Bowling Coach Adam Griffith, Director of Cricket Mo Bobat, Team Physio Evan Speningly and analyst Freddie Wilde.
“We are deeply grateful for the rapid coordination and support of the BCCI, the local authorities and the police that made this possible,” the RCB statement added.
An LSG official also confirmed to PTI that some of their overseas players flew on Saturday, while a few others have chosen to stay behind for the moment.
For other franchises like the Indians of Mumbai (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), national and international players also left for their respective locations.
According to a source, KKR players left Hyderabad, where they were to face Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.
After the IPL match in Dharamsala was canceled, the players of the Kings of Punjab and the Capitals of Delhi reached New Delhi on Friday after being evacuated and escorted at Jalandhar station in lots by Hoshiarpur in the middle of a tight security.
The squads had arrived in New Delhi aboard a special “Vande Bharat Express”.
A source of the Punjab kings (PBKS) said that most of their foreign players have left for the house.
Meanwhile, the BCCI secretary, Devajit Saikia, said that the updates concerning the revised calendar and the premises for the rest of the tournament would be shared in due course after a complete assessment of the situation in consultation with the authorities and the stakeholders concerned.
The suspension of the IPL intervenes in the wake of the missile strikes of India targeting terrorist infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Jammu and the cashmere occupied by Pakistan.
The strikes were carried out in response to the terrorist attack on April 22, which made 26 lives.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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