Australian cricketers face call between cash and conscience as India-Pakistan crisis explodes

Indian arrogance and a near miss with a missile attack has left anguished Australian cricketers to face a chastening call between cash and conscience.

Indian arrogance and a near miss with a missile attack has left anguished Australian cricketers to face a chastening call between cash and conscience.

A small group of Australian cricketers playing in the postponed Pakistan Super League left on a charter flight to Dubai four hours before Indian forces attacked the military base from which they departed.

Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis and Ashton Turner were on the flight from the military base at Nur Khan which was later struck by Indian missiles which destroyed several homes and created an outbreak of fires.

While the Pakistan Super League has been suspended, the Indian Premier League has been postponed for a week and officials are trying, against mounting odds, to refloat it.

Pakistani Air Force plane A319 took off from Nur Khan Air Base (the base that was hit by Indian missiles earlier) was transporting Cricket Foreign players to Dubai. Picture: X

Most of Australia’s 15 IPL players, including the Test attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, will arrive home on Sunday.

Many overseas players who have lived through the escalating dramas of the past two months have privately declared they will not return to India if the IPL restarts there which is highly unlikely.

There is a possibility, however, it could restart in Dubai but even that is complex for players.

One player agent said: “If it starts again players face a difficult dilemma because most don’t want to offend their franchises by not turning up which could cost them in the future.

“But they don’t want to go back to India for obvious reasons and if it is held somewhere else like Dubai it is still the Indian Premier League and who knows what Pakistan might do. It’s a worry.’’

Serious questions are being asked about why the BCCI pushed ahead with staging the match between Punjab Kings and Delhi in Dharamsala – close to the Pakistan border – last week which was abandoned after air-raid sirens went off in the distance.

Vendors pack their belongings as they leave Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium following the postponement of the Pakistan Super League. Picture: AFP

High-ranking officials from both teams were both pushing for it to be postponed and moved away from the conflict hot spot and one Australian player in the game privately described the atmosphere as “frightening.’’

It’s understood commentators and the teams were even briefed before the match that there was a very real possibility the game could be cancelled.

The fixture was ultimately abandoned midway through and the undue danger players were placed in may have doomed the entire tournament.

Players, staff and commentators who were there have reported feeling fearful as they were ushered out of the venue with lights dimmed.

Sixers teammates in the BBL, Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis were among those on the flight out of the Nur Khan military base before it was hit in a missile attack. Picture: Getty Images

Had the BCCI heeded the obvious warnings and postponed the match to another part of India well away from the Kashmir region, panic would not have spread through the entire tournament and it’s possible the IPL may have been able to continue in southern and eastern regions of India.

Instead, the $16 billion tournament is now in serious jeopardy after officials were forced to fly its starts urgently out of the country to calm panic levels and make decisions on how to move forward.

There are suspicions that the Pakistan Super League has been strong-armed out of plans to resume its tournament in the UAE so that the almighty Indian Premier League can move into Dubai and Abu Dhabi instead.

England has also privately suggested it could rescue the tournament in September this year.

However, even if the tournament does resume at some point away from India, players have still been placed in a difficult quandary.

The narrow escape of Australian stars in Pakistan only adds further complexity to the question of whether Indian or Pakistani cricket should be continuing in this deeply troubling time.

Originally published as Australian cricketers face call between cash and conscience as India-Pakistan crisis explodes