MUMBAI: The fallout from the Pulwana terror attack left the Pakistan Cricket Board scrambling on Monday, blacked out from India’s airways and the decision of IMG-Reliance a day earlier to withdraw as official production partner for the PCB’s Indian Premier League iteration – the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
IMG-R was televising Season 4 of the PSL, with the matches currently being held in the UAE, as well as the knockout games and final when matches return to Karachi and Lahore next month.
“IMG-Reliance has decided to stop the production of PSL with immediate effect and the PCB has been informed,” IMG-R declared Sunday.
It was only last month that IMG-R had signed a deal with PSL to manage the live coverage of matches by providing manpower and other infrastructural support for broadcast through different TV channels in different nations.
In India, PSL was being aired on DSport, a Discovery Communications branded niche sports channel. Though DSport is yet to release an official statement on the matter, it has stopped PSL telecast as off Sunday.
PSL coverage was taken off online digital platforms Dream11, Cricbuzz and ESPNcricinfo as well on Monday.
“IMG-Reliance is of the belief that after such terror attacks it can’t operate its commercial activities in Pakistan,” an IMG-R spokesperson told IANS.
The PCB confirmed IMG Reliance will not live produce matches of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2019 after Sunday’s matches in Dubai. The announcement of the new live broadcast partner is likely to be made on Monday following the signing of a new agreement, the PCB stated.
“We have been informed by IMG Reliance that they will be unable to partner with us for the remaining HBL PSL 2019 and PCB has reserved all its rights. The PCB always had a contingency plan in place, and we are confident we will be in a position to announce the new partner on Monday after the completion of the formalities,” PCB’s managing director Wasim Khan stated.
Khan added: “The PCB has also noted the recent turn of events and expresses its extreme disappointment as we have always believed and emphasised that sports and politics should be kept separate. History tells us that sports, particularly cricket, have always played a key role in building bridges between people and countries.
“Unfortunately, denying India cricket fans the right to follow HBL PSL by blocking all digital coverage as well as covering or removing portrait of former Pakistan cricket captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan and other legendary cricketers from one of the most historic cricket clubs and venues are highly regrettable actions.
“The PCB intends to take up these incidents with the BCCI and the ICC at the upcoming ICC committee meeting in Dubai later this month.”
On Saturday, two days after the Pulwana terror attack, the match between Islamabad United and Multan Sultans was televised and so was the Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings match that followed.
Till February 14, the day the attack took place, DSport’s Twitter handle was almost exclusively posting updates about the tournament. However, since February 15, the handle has been posting tweets on MMA promotions Cage Warriors and Bellator. The only cricket-related tweet since then was a birthday greetings message for former South African captain AB de Villiers, who is playing for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL.
It was earlier reported that Mumbai’s Cricket Club of India has covered a portrait of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan after the attack. A former Pakistan captain and considered one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, Khan’s portrait was alongside that of former Indian captain Kapil Dev.
42 CRPF personnel died on Thursday in the single worst terror attack in the Valley when a suicide bomber rammed his Scorpio SUV laden with explosives into a CRPF bus in south Kashmir. The Jaish-e-Mohammed jihadist group, which enjoys state support and funding in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as a 20-year-old local resident from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles with 2,547 CRPF personnel, moving from Jammu to Srinagar. Most of the men were returning from leave to join duty in Srinagar.
