Safety concerns for Ricky Ponting and other Aussie cricketers, coaches amid India and Pakistan border conflict

Australia’s cricket stars are this morning scrambling to flee India as the IPL looks set to be postponed in the face of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

Australian cricket stars are frantically trying to book flights out of India with cricket chiefs set to postpone the IPL due to the India-Pakistan conflict.

Sources have confirmed that overseas players are in the process of trying to organise their way out of India following a dramatic night for Australia’s big name stars playing in India and Pakistan’s PSL competition.

Spectators leave the stands after authorities evacuated the stadium between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala. Picture: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images

While there is yet to be any official announcements around the future of the tournament, a postponement appears likely if overseas players are looking for the exits.

Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings’ team and their match against Mitchell Starc’s Delhi was abandoned overnight following a power failure linked to the Pakistan conflict.

The match was taking place in Dharmasala, which is in the vicinity of the Kashmir region on the border with Pakistan where the conflict is heating up.

IPL Governing Council chairman Arun Dhumal is seen requesting people to leave the stadium after the Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals match was called off in Dharamsala.

📹: @rvmoorthyhindu#IPL2025 | #PBKSvsDCpic.twitter.com/BH9jmZaYHC

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) May 8, 2025

Asked about the Kings’ plans during the match on Thursday, former Australia captain Ponting shrugged: “We’re not sure where we’re going at the moment … there’s been some talk about Ahmedabad and some talk about Jaipur, but we’re only really worried about tonight’s match.

“You know, there’s been a fair bit happening the last few days and we’re just trying to make sure we focus on our performance here.”

Pakistan’s T20 cricket league will be relocated to the United Arab Emirates, officials said Friday, after Indian attacks on the country including a drone that reached Rawalpindi stadium.“Pakistan Cricket Board confirms that the remaining eight matches of the Pakistan Super League have been shifted to the United Arab Emirates,” read a PCB statement.

It’s understood the Pakistan Cricket Board will look to fly Australian and all their overseas players to Dubai today, with a view to restarting the competition in the UAE next week.

AUSSIE CRICKETERS CONSIDER FLEEING PAKISTAN, INDIA

Agitated Australian cricketers were last night involved in critical meetings to decide whether they should immediately flee war-threatened Pakistan.

Pakistan is under mounting pressure to provide immediate flights out of the country for overseas cricketers feeling the strain of the border war with India.

Several overseas players had told organisers of the Pakistan Super League they wanted out of the last few rounds of the competition and were ready to fly home as tensions escalate in the border war with India.

There are five Australian players - David Warner, Max Bryant, Riley Meredith, Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis - in the competition which finishes on May 18.

The request came after a report in media outlet Dawn claimed that PCB spokesperson Amir Mir revealed foreign players temporarily cannot leave the country due to air space issues. Pakistan closed their air space for 48 hours on Wednesday.

David Warner is among five Aussie cricketers in Pakistan. Picture: Getty Images

Ben Dwarshuis is also playing in the PSL. Picture: Getty Images

“There is no chance of the foreign players leaving the country anyway with airspace issues, but they are living under a heavy security blanket of Pakistan Army,’’ Mir said.

“There have been surgical strikes on both sides of the border but we don’t expect that affecting the PSL. But if, God forbid, things do escalate, we will sit together to decide our next step.

Meanwhile, in India, Ricky Ponting’s Indian Premier League team could have their next match moved away from the Himalayas as a safety response to escalating tensions on the nearby India-Pakistan border.

Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association have thrown its support behind a large group of Australian players competing in both the IPL and the PSL in Pakistan as the two nations exchange fire.

Ricky Ponting’s team could be forced to move matches due to the India-Pakistan conflict. Picture: AP Photo/Bikas Das

There are 15 Australians, including star bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, involved in the Indian Premier League while four players, including David Warner, are playing in the Pakistan Super League which finishes on May 18.

Dharamsala, the mountain-base of Ponting’s high-flying Punjab Kings is in the vicinity of the Kashmir hot spot and all airports in the border region have been shut until May 10.

Josh Hazlewood is among the Aussie cricketers in India right now. Picture: AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

Mitchell Starc is also there with the Delhi Capitals. Picture: Money Sharma / AFP

That means Punjab’s match against Delhi Capitals on Thursday night was to remain in Dharamsala, but there is consideration to moving their next home fixture against Mumbai Indians on May 11 to Mumbai.

Punjab features a host of Australian stars including Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, BBL sensation Mitch Owen and Xavier Bartlett, as well as coaches Ponting, James Hopes and Brad Haddin.

There is concern Dharamsala who played host to matches during the 2023 men’s One Day World Cup is in the danger zone. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“We are closely monitoring the situation in Kashmir, including continuing to obtain advice and updates from the Australian Government and the PCB and BCCI,“ a Cricket Australia spokesperson said.

There have been reports in the London Telegraph that some of the English players in the Pakistan Super League are considering leaving the tournament and that players were “split’’ in their views on whether they should stay or return home.

Any player who leaves the PSL will pay a financial cost because players are paid by the match.

The Australian Cricketers Association has been in touch with Australian players in both competitions offering advice and support and promising to be on hand if any player needs specialist advice as tension escalated after India launched missile attacks on Wednesday in what in Pakistan has described as “an act of war.’’

Journalists film missile fragments at the compound of an Islamic seminary after Indian strikes in Ahmedpur Sharqia, about 7 kilometers from Bahawalpur in Pakistan's Punjab province. Picture: Shahid Saeed Mirza / AFP

Pakistan’s armed forced has been given permission to take “corresponding actions’’ in the dispute which flared two weeks ago after a terrorist attack killed 26 people in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

As yet, there has been no moves by any player to return home and across the board in both Pakistan in India, Australian players appear comfortable with the safety protocols in place.

National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets shout slogans after conducting an emergency simulation drill as part of the nationwide civil defence mock drills in Amritsar, Pakistan. Picture: Narinder Nanu / AFP

Brisbane Heat’s Max Bryant is currently in Pakistan. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Andrew McShea, who manages Queensland batsman Max Bryant who is playing for the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan League, said Bryant has only two games left and was expecting, at this stage, to see out his commitment.

“Obviously we are watching things very closely and the ACA have been outstanding in their proactive communication,’’ McShea said.

“Based on the information available there is a level of comfort at the moment but it is something the players and agents will continue to keep a close eye on.’’

Such is the tension between the two nations that television broadcasts of the Indian Premier League are banned in Pakistan, just as the PSL is in India.

Originally published as Safety concerns for Ricky Ponting and other Aussie cricketers, coaches amid India and Pakistan border conflict