By Aditya Kalra, Reuters
Trent Boult celebrates with teammates after taking a wicket during an IPL match. Photo: R.SATISH BABU
India's cricket board has suspended the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament, one of the world's richest sports leagues, amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The suspension will come as a major setback for a Reliance-Disney joint venture which has broadcast rights for the matches, and also scores of companies who have committed millions of dollars for advertising.
After striking the $8.5-billion (NZ$14.4m) media merger with Walt Disney last year, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance was targeting small businesses and promoting unconventional neuroscience studies to boost its revenues from the IPL.
The Indian cricket board BCCI considered various factors such as the security of international and Indian players, and whether such entertainment and sports events should continue at this point or not, said the source, who declined to be named as the decision has not been made public.
"The idea is very clear - it is not appropriate at this time to continue IPL," said the person.
IPL chair Arun Singh Dhumal and the Indian cricket board's secretary Devajit Saikia did not respond to Reuters' calls and messages seeking comment.
Thursday's IPL match was abandoned midway after fighting began in India's border regions, but the cricket board attributed the disruption to a power failure at the stadium in the hill city of Dharamsala.
The world's richest cricket tournament began its current season on 22 March, and the final fixture was scheduled to be played on 25 May, with matches being spread over 13 venues around the country.
Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have been locked in conflict since Wednesday, when India targeted multiple locations in Pakistan, claiming they were "terrorist infrastructure" in response to a deadly attack in Kashmir last month.
New Delhi named two Pakistani nationals as suspects and accused Islamabad of being involved in the attack, a charge Pakistan denied and sought an independent probe.
India's army said Pakistan's armed forces carried out "multiple attacks" using drones and other munitions across the entire western border on Thursday night and early Friday, a claim Pakistan denied.
-Reuters
