Follow UsWhat happened during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Delhi Capitals (DC) game in Dharamsala on May 8, was total chaos as fans did not know what to do. Cheerleaders described the experience as harrowing, and members of both teams had to be brought back to New Delhi via the Vande Bharat Train.
However, for the IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal, it was something that organisers had known beforehand. They knew that there might come a situation where they would have to evacuate the stadium completely, and yet they chose to get on with the game, hoping things might turn out differently.
“It was a challenge to take a call given the situation we were in. We had discussions with the district administration and state administration beforehand about the possibility of evacuating fans and how to go about it. But we were all hoping things would get better, so that is why we started the game between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals,” Dhumal was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
It was on the second day after the launch of Operation Sindoor by the Indian Security Forces on terror hideouts in Pakistan to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack. However, Pakistan escalated the situation and the Indian government released advisories of blackouts at night in most Northern Indian states, including Himachal Pradesh, where the game was taking place in Dharamsala.
After 10.1 overs in the first innings, the game was abruptly stopped, and what followed was mayhem for fans and players alike. Dhumal explained the situation.
“We didn’t want any situation where fans panicked in the stadium. It was prudent that we stop the game and get fans out of the stadium. As a precaution, we called off the game mid-way because there was so much misinformation flowing. There were 25,000 fans inside the stadium, plus cricketers from two teams and other stakeholders,” he said.
The break, which was said to be due to floodlight failure, was actually the time when the higher-ups discussed evacuating the stadium.
“There was a small break [during the game], and we had a discussion with the district commissioner, the deputy commissioner, the senior authorities and people higher up. We spoke about the next step. I went and spoke to people in the team management of both teams and appraised them about the situation. Then I went to the ground and asked all the fans to keep moving. Local administration were getting reports about incidents [air raid sirens] taking place,” Dhumal relived those moments.
It was after this call-off that IPL was suspended for one week on the next day (May 9).