CHENNAI: Punjab Kings match against Delhi Capitals at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday will go ahead as scheduled despite heightened tension between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor.
However, there is uncertainty over the next match scheduled at the venue between the hosts PBKS and Mumbai Indians on May 11. Though there are multiple reports indicating venue shift to Mumbai but the HPCA said it has not received any communication in this regard so far.
Earlier in the day, flight operators issued travel advisory stating flights to and from several cities including Dharamsala have been cancelled after the Indian armed forces targeted nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir late on Tuesday. The strikes came days after the April 22 Pahalgam's Baisaran valley terror attack wherein 26 tourists were killed.
"In line with directives from aviation authorities regarding airport closures, we are in process of cancelling all flights to and from Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Dharamsala, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Gwalior, Kishangarh and Rajkot until 5:29 hrs on 10th May," read the advisory issued by Indigo, one of the biggest flight operators in the country.
Speculations related to the fate of the matches in Dharamsala were rife ever since the airports were closed and it intensified further with rain delaying the press conferences by both the teams at the venue on Wednesday evening. The Punjab team eventually had a training session with their opponents from Delhi skipping. The two teams later held the press conferences as well.
"The PBKS vs DC match is on," Avnish Parmar, HPCA secretary told this daily. Parmar also confirmed that the next match involving Punjab and Mumbai will also go ahead as scheduled as of now. "The HPCA has not received any communication from the BCCI on shifting the match so we are assuming it will go ahead as planned. Anyway the state association will follow the directives issued either by the union government or the Indian cricket board in this regard," he added.
The Delhi team reached the venue on Tuesday evening but the arrival of the Mumbai franchise is not clear yet as Dharamsala airport. The nearest airport at Chandigarh is also closed till May 10.
"It's the status quo at the moment. The IPL governing council will issue directives if needed," a PBKS source told this daily. The Delhi match is an evening affair while the clash against Mumbai will begin in the afternoon.
Hardik Pandya-led side was scheduled to reach Dharamsala on Wednesday but decided to stay back in Mumbai. So far there is no clarity on their travel plan.
Also DC's next match is scheduled to be held at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on May 11 against Gujarat Titans and it has to be seen how they reach Delhi. They will then play Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on May 15.
As this is the business end of the two-month long tournament, it looks difficult to reschedule the matches at the other venues on a different date. Dharamsala is the second home for the Shreyas Iyer-led team. They had shifted its base to the city for three home matches this season. They defeated Lucknow Super Giants on May 3 in the first of these three fixtures.