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The Indian Cricket Bureau has suspended India’s Premier League, the sport’s most lucrative tournament, due to concerns over an escalating conflict with Pakistan.
The Indian cricket committee, Sports Governing Body, postponed the weekly short T20 contest on Friday, citing “concerns and feelings” from the IPL franchise and players.
The BCCI said in a statement.
The decision comes after a match in Dharamshala, a city in the Himalayas hilly region near India’s dominated Kashmir, and was stopped after erupting along the border this week.
The IPL on Thursday said it had moved the match to Ahmedabad city in Gujarat “due to logistical challenges.”
India and Pakistan have been trapped in conflict this week, with both sides swapping airstrikes and fires after New Delhi launched a military strike over what he said was “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan on Wednesday.
New Delhi said the strike was retaliation last month for the attack that killed 26 tourists in India-controlled Kashmir. Islamabad denied any involvement in the incident and called for an independent investigation.
India’s IPL cricket season, which began on March 22nd, was scheduled to run until May 25th. The IPL was last suspended in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and later moved to the United Arab Emirates.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Cricket Committee also announced that it would move its domestic T20 tournament to the United Arab Emirates, following the postponement of the match at Pakistan’s military headquarters, Rawalpindi.
PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi said, “The PCB has decided to shift the rest of the match to the UAE so that it can save not only domestic and foreign cricketers, but also from reckless targeting by India.”
The suspension of IPL, valued at over $6 billion, could hit the media business of Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company.
The conglomerate, owned by Asia’s wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani, has exclusive broadcast rights to IPL after the merger of Disney’s Indian assets with Reliance’s entertainment arm last year.
Karan Taurani, Mumbai-based analyst at Elara Capital, estimates that the suspension could result in a loss of 30-40% of broadcast revenue.
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The launch of the IPL in 2008 revolutionized cricket by popularizing a fast-paced format that became the world’s second most valuable sports league after the US National Football League.
It also drives rapid subscription growth to Reliance and Disney’s streaming platforms, which have over 100 million users. Reliance said last month that this year’s IPL tournament had a record weekend with 1.4 billion digital viewers, rising 35% year-on-year.
Jiostar, the joint venture broadcaster, said it supported the decision to suspend IPL. “Jiostar works closely with all stakeholders to ensure that the transition is managed seamlessly and everyone involved in the broadcast of the tournament will return safely.”
It attracts cricketers from all over the world, but the IPL has banned Pakistani players since the 2008 attack on Mumbai.
