Official Indian broadcaster for PSL suspends coverage after Pulwama attack: report

Published February 17, 2019
The official broadcaster for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in India, D-Sport, has suspended the broadcast of the sporting league. — File
The official broadcaster for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in India, D-Sport, has suspended the broadcast of the sporting league. — File

The official broadcaster for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in India, D-Sport, has suspended the broadcast of the T20 competition in the wake of the recent deadly attack targeting Indian security forces in occupied Kashmir's Pulwama area, Indian Express reported on Sunday.

The Indian Express quoted an official from the broadcaster saying the broadcast of PSL has been suspended. However, they added that D-Sport was yet to release an official statement regarding the matter.

As per the report, after the attack, the league's matches between Islamabad United and Multan Sultans and the Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings on Saturday were broadcast.

It added that till the day of the attack, the channel's Twitter handle had primarily been posting updates related to the PSL.

"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," the report added.

Taking to Twitter, users also noted that CricBuzz was no longer covering the PSL.

The CricBuzz website appears to have no coverage of the league's matches being played today. However, previous articles of PSL matches can still be found on the website.

Pulwama attack

On Thursday, at least 44 Indian paramilitary troops were killed in Indian-occupied Kashmir's Pulwama area in the deadliest attack on security forces in the valley since 2002. The attack, surpassing one in 2016 when 19 soldiers died, saw explosives packed inside a van rip through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Indian media reports claimed that JeM had claimed responsibility for the attack. The attacker was identified as a Kashmiri youth named Aadil Ahmad Dar who had used more than 750 pounds of explosives to target the military convoy.

Indian military commander Lt Gen DS Hooda, who had led the Indian army's Northern Command during a similar crisis in September 2016, said it is not possible to bring such a massive amount of explosives into the area "by infiltrating the border". He told the New York Times on Saturday that "the material may have been taken from stashes of explosives" being used to broaden the Jammu highway where the attack occurred.

Shortly after the attack, Islamabad had strongly condemned the violence and rejected any insinuation that sought to link it to Pakistan without investigation.

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