England Players Ready To Ditch PSL As India-Pakistan War Begins; PCB Responds

According to reports, England cricket players competing in the PSL 2025 are worried about the growing hostilities between India and Pakistan. The Telegraph claims that after India's airstrikes along the Kashmir border, England players are split on whether to remain in Pakistan or go back home.

The fallout from India's successful "Operation Sindoor" is being felt by Pakistan. India targeted nine high-value terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) with precision airstrikes in the early hours of May 7. This action was taken in response to the Pahalgam terrorist incident, which claimed many lives.

The Telegraph claims that despite growing tensions, the majority of English cricket players competing in the Pakistan Super League have chosen to remain in Pakistan. Some athletes are looking into ways to go back home, though.

ECB holds emergency meeting

To deal with the issue, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called an emergency meeting. There is no urgent need to evacuate the nation, according to many cricket players who have voiced their confidence in the security measures in place.

The PSL 2025 presently features seven England players: Chris Jordan, Luke Wood, James Vince, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, David Willey, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore. There are also English coaches in Pakistan, such as Alexandra Hartley and Ravi Bopara.

Given that they are paid per game in the PSL, England players who leave Pakistan in the middle of the season may suffer financial losses. On May 11, the PSL 2025 group stage is scheduled to conclude.

“People will just want to leave, "the player agent says

An agent representing overseas players in Pakistan stated that, as the situation has settled, security advisors are becoming less concerned.

“On the assumption that things have settled and airspace is opening up, the security advisors seem a little relaxed. It’s business as usual, but obviously, if anything else happens in the next 24 hours, you’d imagine people will just want to leave. I don’t see—at this moment in time—a huge exodus,” the agent told the Telegraph.

David Willey and Chris Jordan Wish to Leave PSL Early

David Willey and Chris Jordan have reportedly told their team, the Multan Sultans, that they want to withdraw from the Pakistan Super League after their team was eliminated from the playoffs with just one game remaining in the season, according to a report published by the Telecom Asia website.

The PSL matches will, however, go on as planned, according to confirmation from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). On May 11, the last group stage game will take place in Multan. On May 13, the qualifier will take place in Rawalpindi. The Gaddafi Stadium will host the Eliminators and Final on May 14, 16, and 18.

PCB official rejects England players' request

The England coaches participating in PSL 2025 are Ravi Bopara and Alexandra Hartley, while the England players in the PSL are James Vince, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Luke Wood, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

But according to Dawn, PCB official Amir Mir stated that airspace concerns prevent the foreign players from leaving the nation. Pakistan announced on Wednesday a 48-hour closure of its airspace. Before then, major airlines had also begun to avoid flying over Pakistan.

“The foreign players met PSL chief Salman Naseer at a dinner last night, and they had a ‘gup shup’ (informal chat). Naturally, the current scenario may have come under discussion. There is no chance of the foreign players leaving the country anyway, with airspace issues, but they are living under a heavy security blanket of the Pakistan Army.

There have been surgical strikes on both sides of the border, but we don’t expect that to affect the PSL. But if, God forbid, things do escalate, we will sit together to decide our next step,” Mir was quoted by Dawn News.

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