'We Need To Leave Right Now' - Australian Cricketer Reveals What Transpired In Dharamsala

The captain of the Australian women’s cricket team, Alyssa Healy, who was accompanying her husband and Delhi Capitals (DC) fast bowler Mitchell Starc, shared the “terrifying” experience of evacuating the Dharamsala stadium after the IPL 2025 game between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and DC was stopped mid way due to the escalating tensions at the India-Pakistan border. 

Speaking on Willow Talk Cricket Podcast, Healy said: "It was a surreal experience. All of a sudden a couple of the light towers went out and we were just sitting there up the top waiting... the next minute, the guy who wrangles the group of us came up and his face was white. He was like, 'We need to go right now'.

"Then another guy came out, his face was white too, and he grabbed one of the children and said, 'We need to leave right now'. We weren't told anything. We had no idea. Next minute, we were being shuffled into a room – like a holding pen. All the boys were in there. Faf (du Plessis) didn’t even have shoes on.

"I said to Mitch, 'What's going on?' He said the town 60 kilometres away had just been smacked by some of the missiles, so there was a complete blackout. That’s why the lights were off — the Dharamsala stadium was like a beacon at that point.

“There was madness. We ended up going south-west towards the border, which was a little bit terrifying. Mitch and I have played too much Call of Duty and we’re noticing all the SAM (surface to air missile) sites that were just sitting there ready to go. They’re radar-operated systems that shoot missiles at aircraft. (We saw) a few of them on the way through in some small towns.”

The IPL 2025 was suspended after that incomplete game on May 8, and will now restart on May 17, with the final taking place on June 3. The PBKS-DC game will now be played on May 24 in Jaipur. There have been reports suggesting that Starc won’t return for the remaining games.