IPL to go on normally amid rising India-Pakistan tensions: BCCI source

Gujarat Titans defeated Mumbai Indians by three wickets in a thriller at Wankhede Stadium.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, currently scheduled to go on till May 25, will continue normally, a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source told ANI on Wednesday.

This follows the development this morning after the successful execution of Operation Sindoor by the Indian Armed Forces and tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

The source told ANI that the current circumstances will not have any effect on the IPL scheduling and matches, and it will go on as scheduled.

In ‘Operation Sindoor’ India’s armed forces utilised special precision munitions to destroy nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK in a coordinated strike.

Sources revealed that the Indian forces targeted and obliterated four sites in Pakistan, including key locations in Bahawalpur, Muridke, and Sialkot, while five other targets in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) were also successfully hit.

The Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force jointly carried out the operation, mobilising assets and troops.
The strikes on all nine targets were successful, sources further revealed. The Indian forces selected the locations to target top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders involved in sponsoring terrorist activities in India.

This marks New Delhi’s most significant military action within Pakistani territory in over five decade.
Notably, the cash-rich league has faced several postponements, venue changes due to many circumstances throughout its rich history. However, it has never been cancelled completely, making it a cricketing festival that entertains India and the entire world irrespective of circumstances.

Firstly in 2009, the league was organised in South Africa for the first-time ever as majority of security resource was busy with the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections back in India.

Then, during the 2014 season, the first part of the competition from April 16 to April 30 was held in UAE due to Lok Sabha elections that year. From May 2 onwards though, the IPL action came back to India.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IPL faced a postponement as instead of March, it commenced in September 2020. The grave pandemic situation and spread of infection meant that the tournament was shifted to the UAE once again.

During 2021, the tournament started on April 9 in India, held across only four venues, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai. However, after the match day on May 2, the remainder of the tournament was postponed yet again and shifted to UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in India. It was then held in UAE from September-October 2021.

In 2022, the tournament did take place in India, but only across four venues, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

It was only from 2023 that IPL once again was taken all over India.

On Tuesday night , Gujarat Titans defeated Mumbai Indians by three wickets in a thriller at Wankhede Stadium.

GT won the toss and opted to bowl first. A 71-run stand between Will Jacks (53 in 35 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Suryakumar Yadav (35 in 24 balls, with five fours) was the highlight as wickets fell regularly, restricting MI to 155/8 in their 20 overs.

Sai Kishore (2/34) was the pick of the bowlers for GT, while Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan and Gerald Coetzee took a wicket each.

The run-chase was a rollercoaster ride for both teams. GT did lose Sai Sudharsan early, but a 72-run stand between skipper Gill (43 in 46 balls, with three fours and a six) and Jos Buttler (30 in 27 balls, with three fours and a six) marked their comeback in the game.

In the 14th over, with GT 107/2, a rain break was taken with GT ahead as per the DLS Method. After the break, Jasprit Bumrah (2/19) and Trent Boult (2/22) brought MI back in the game, collapsing GT to 132/6 in 18 overs at the start of another rain break. This time, GT was behind.

When the game finally resumed, the revised target was 147 runs with one more over left. Rahul Tewatia (11*) and Gerald Coetzee (12) single-handedly finished the job for GT, earning them a win by three wickets on a last-ball thriller.

GT is at the top with eight wins, three losses and 16 points, while MI sits at fourth with seven wins and five losses, giving them 14 points. Their six-match win streak is finally broken.

Gill was given the ‘Player of the Match’ award. (ANI)

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