Bangladesh leg-spinner Rishad Hossain described the predicament of the foreign players competing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), stating that England fast bowler Tom Curran ended up "crying like a baby" when he learned about the airport closure, while New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell vowed never to return to Pakistan to play cricket.
The military tension between India and Pakistan, which began to escalate on May 7 after India's strategic response to the horrific terror assault in Pahalgam that murdered 26 civilians, caused the PSL to be postponed indefinitely.
The PCB had little choice but to call off the competition after the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) turned down its initial proposal to move the league's remaining games to the United Arab Emirates. Just a few hours had passed since the BCCI halted the IPL for a week for the same reason before the formal announcement.
Also Read: Jay Shah and his strong relation with Emirates Cricket Board behind PSL's failed relocation to UAE
After booking connecting flights to their final destinations, PSL players from overseas were flown out to the United Arab Emirates. Rishad, a member of the Lahore Qalandars team, said it was unsettling to learn that the airfield where their charter plane departed on Saturday was attacked by missiles 20 minutes later.
"After landing in Dubai when we heard that a missile struck the airport 20 minutes after we took off from the airport. The news was scary as well as sorrowful and now after reaching Dubai we are feeling relieved," Rishad told Cricbuzz. "Whenever I go out to play, my family worries for me whether the situation is good or not and now when they heard the news about Pakistan - the bomb-blasts and the missile-strikes here and there- -naturally they were in tension.
"I personally tried to console them and tell them not to worry about me and they were quite normal," he added.
Rishad claimed that Daryl Mitchell, a teammate of his from Lahore Qalandars, informed him he would never return to Pakistan. "Foreign players like Sam Billings, Daryl Mitchell, Kushal Perera, David Wiese, Tom Curran... all of them were so frightened... Landing in Dubai, Mitchell told me that he would never go to Pakistan again, especially in this kind of scenario. Overall, they all were horrified," said Rishad.
Recounting Tom Curran's plight, Rishad added: "He (Tom Curran) went to the airport, but heard that the airport was closed. Then he started crying like a little child, that it took two or three people to handle him."
Rishad further disclosed that the PCB chief attempted to hold the remaining PSL matches in Karachi, but the plan was quickly derailed due to government interference.
"A meeting was basically called to know our concerns, what we think about the current scenario. Almost all the foreign players said that the only safe place available for the later part of the tournament is Dubai.
"Yes, the PCB Chairman tried to convince us to conduct the remaining matches in Karachi. At that time he tried to hide from us that there were two drone attacks just the day before which we came to know later. Later all of us took the decision (to shift to Dubai) and the PCB Chairman helped us a lot to reach Dubai safely by the grace of Almighty Allah. Thanks to him and the Pakistan Cricket Board," he concluded.
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