Cricket
oi-Avinash Sharma
The
Board
of
Control
for
Cricket
in
India
(BCCI)
has
been
caught
sleeping
at
the
wheel
for
the
second
time
in
a
month.
When
the
Pahalgam
massacre
of
innocents
incident
happened
on
April
22,
the
IPL
Governing
Council
should
have
immediately
halted
the
IPL
2025
match
between
Lucknow
Super
Giants
and
Kolkata
Knight
Riders
in
Lucknow.
It
was
sheer
callousness
the
IPL
authorities
allowed
the
match
to
take
place
as
India
was
in
shock
after
26
innocents
had
been
butchered
by
terrorists
from
Pakistan.
It
was
only
a
day
later,
on
April
23,
when
Mumbai
Indians
played
Sunrisers
Hyderabad,
where
symbolic
black
bands
were
worn.
Come
on,
is
the
IPL
so
big
that
you
do
not
care
for
human
lives
and
emotions?
Can’t
host
IPL
2025
in
war-like
situation
It
is
well
known,
that
the
war-like
situation
between
India
and
Pakistan
had
been
building
up
for
weeks.
The
moment
India
started
defending
the
attack
on
its
international
border,
the
IPL
should
have
been
stopped.
If
not,
hosting
matches
in
North
India
and
Jaipur
should
have
been
scrapped.
What
was
indeed
ridiculous,
on
Thursday
night,
the
IPL
allowed
a
match
between
Punjab
Kings
and
Delhi
Capitals
to
be
staged
in
Dharamsala,
before
being
stalled.
The
BCCI
and
the
IPL
Governing
Council
are
not
visually
handicapped
and
they
do
not
know
where
Dharamsala
is
situated
geographically.
It
is
a
full-blown
war
now
between
India
and
Pakistan,
where
the
State
of
Pakistan
itself
has
shown
it
is
no
different
from
Jihadis.
Imagine,
Jammu
was
being
attacked
on
Thursday
night
and
so
many
more
cities
in
Rajasthan
were
tense.
And
an
IPL
match
was
allowed
to
be
staged!
Crazy.
How
and
why
was
this
allowed,
because
lives
were
at
risk.
The
IPL
is
club
cricket
at
best.
Yes,
people
enjoy
club
cricket
but
this
is
not
the
time
for
having
fun
when
the
brave
Indian
Defence
Forces
are
safeguarding
India
and
at
the
same
time
smashing
the
Pakistan
terror
camps
as
well
as
destroying
their
installations
with
sophisticated
missiles.
Is
the
IPL
so
greedy
that
in
the
fear
of
losing
money
and
more,
they
want
to
risk
the
lives
of
cricketers,
which
include
foreigners
as
well
as
paying
the
public?
It
is
a
shame,
that
the
IPL,
instead
of
putting
on
hold
the
2025
edition,
has
postponed
a
firm
decision
and
will
now
hold
a
meeting
on
Friday.
IPL
2025
PBKS
vs
DC
Match
Abandoned
Was
it
not
serious
enough
when
Pakistan
was
attacking
India,
the
BCCI
should
not
have
fallen
lure
of
the
lucre
and
stopped
the
IPL.
This
is
shameful
since
the
Dharmasala
venue
in
Himachal
Pradesh
is
not
far
from
the
‘war
zone’
that
the
border
has
become.
If
Jammu
has
been
targeted,
the
entire
Amristar
and
down
till
Chandigarh,
there
is
a
plea
to
stay
indoors
from
the
administration.
You
cannot
have
matches
in
North
India
or
in
Jaipur.
Just
put
the
IPL
on
hold.
This
is
as
mindless
and
shameful
as
the
IPL
being
shifted
out
of
India
when
the
COVID-19
pandemic
struck
hard
in
2021.
A
match
in
New
Delhi’s
Arun
Jaitley
Stadium
saw
players
falling
ill.
There
were
also
rumours
the
Bio
Bubble
was
breached
at
that
time.
The
IPL
bosses
wasted
little
time
in
shifting
the
IPL
to
Dubai.
Again,
it
was
for
the
greed
of
money.
Imagine,
there
were
some
social
media
handles
posting
videos
from
Dharamsala
last
night
which
showed
panic
after
the
stadium
had
to
be
evacuated.
For
the
BCCI,
shifting
the
teams
and
TV
crews
out
of
the
scenic
city
became
a
priority.
How
come
the
BCCI
is
so
obsessed
with
money
and
riches,
that
there
is
scant
respect
for
humans?
What
if
something
had
gone
wrong
in
Dharmasala?
The
BCCI
could
not
have
answered.
It’s
war,
officially,
between
India
and
Pakistan.
Stop
the
IPL
for
God’s
sake.
—
The
author
is
a
senior
sports
journalist
who
has
covered
multiple
sports
for
over
three
decades.
