New Delhi, March 15
Legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh on Thursday shut down a Pakistani fan on social media who wished to see Pakistan players take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
A fan had shared a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "Dream for many Indian and Pakistani cricket fans" to see Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam to play with India's batting superstar Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), fiery Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi to play alongside his Indian counterpart Jasprit Bumrah for five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan to share the dressing room with India's World Cup winning skipper and five-time IPL champion MS Dhoni."
However, Harbhajan was quick to shut him down, tweeting, "No Indian hv such dreams .. you guys plz stop dreaming wake up now."
https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1768540049002647857
Notable Pakistan players like Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Misbah Ul Haq, Shahid Afridi etc have played in the IPL's inaugural edition back in 2008. But after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai in the same year, Pakistan players have not featured in the league due to tensions between both countries.
The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a South Indian derby at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The schedule until April 7 has been announced as of now, with the remainder to be declared later because of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the dates for which are yet to be announced.
Last year's runners-up Gujarat Titans and five-time champions Mumbai Indians will square off against each other in a mouth-watering clash on March 24 at Ahmedabad. The fixture has gained a lot of hype because of star all-rounder Hardik Pandya's move to his former franchise MI following two great seasons with GT, which saw him win the trophy with the side as captain in their debut season back in 2022. Pandya will be leading MI this time, replacing Rohit Sharma while Shubman Gill has taken over the captaincy of GT. On the same day, Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants will be starting their campaign at Jaipur.
Delhi Capitals will be playing their home fixtures at Vizag on March 31 and April 3 against CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively. Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium will not be available to host the matches just days after hosting the Women's Premier League final on March 17.
In what will be the first-ever double-header on March 23, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals will launch their campaign against each other at Mohali while two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will get their campaign underway in Kolkata.