Australian cricketers narrowly escape missile strike in Pakistan: Report

Australian and other international cricketers narrowly avoided a missile strike in Pakistan while fleeing on a charter flight to Dubai. The cricketers, who were being evacuated after the postponement of the Pakistan Super League, left Rawalpindi's Nur Khan base just hours before India's retaliatory fire on the military bases of Pakistan.

If the reports coming out of the Australian media are to be believed, then Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Ashton Turner, and Mitch Owen were almost caught up in a potentially devastating incident. On Saturday morning, May 10, just hours after the overseas players left on their charter flight, India launched missile strikes targeting three Pakistani airbases, including the facility at Nur Khan – the airbase from which players, officials, and broadcasters had flown out to the UAE around three hours earlier.

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The strike on Nur Khan, located near Pakistan’s military headquarters and about 10 kilometres from Islamabad, caused multiple explosions and fires, according to local media reports. Witnesses described smoke and flames, with panic spreading in surrounding areas.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the postponement of the remaining eight matches of the Pakistan Super League on Friday, hours after promising that they would play out the rest of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

The announcement came amidst rising tensions at the India-Pakistan border, where India thwarted Pakistan's drone and missile attacks on May 8 and 9. The PCB stated in its release that they had to shut down the event amidst "worsening conditions at the LOC (Line of Control)".

The escalation of events between the two countries came after Pakistan decided to shell heavy artillery in the Kashmir region following India's precision strikes on terror facilities. India was forced to strike nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after terrorists killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam last month.

Published By: Kingshuk Kusari Published On: May 11, 2025

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