'Faf didn't even have shoes on': Alyssa Healy reveals behind-the-scenes turmoil during mid-game IPL halt

Alyssa Healy, fans being evacuated out of Dharamsala stadium (Pic: IPL/AFP)

Australia women's cricket captain Alyssa Healy shared a gripping first-hand account of the night when an IPL 2025 match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was abruptly called off in Dharamsala. The game was suspended midway after air raid sirens were reported in nearby cities, sending shockwaves through the stadium.

At the time of the interruption, Punjab Kings were dominating at 122 for 1 in 10.1 overs. The initial explanation given was a floodlight failure. Healy, who was watching from the stands with family members of fellow players, including her husband and Delhi Capitals pacer Mitchell Starc, initially assumed the delay was minor.

"Couple of the light towers went out and we were just there waiting. I heard a rumour a couple of seats down that we might have to evacuate the stadium cause the lights gone down," Healy said on the WillowTalk podcast.

"And we are large group of family and extra support staff. And next minute the guy that kind of wrangles the group of us and gets us on the bus comes up and his face was white. And he was like, we need to go right now. And we were saying, 'oh, it's okay'. Like we're probably best off letting everyone else get out of the stadium and like stay here. We're probably safer at the moment. Cause there'll be people going down the stairs everywhere," she added.

The backdrop to the panic was a real-time military conflict. India had launched missile strikes on terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) in retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22 that killed 26 people. On the day of the match, several Punjab districts, including Amritsar, Pathankot, and Mohali, as well as Chandigarh were placed under blackout following air raid alarms and loud explosion-like sounds reported in Jammu.

"Then the next guy came out, his face was white, grabbed one of the children and said 'we need to leave right now'," Healy recalled.

"The boys (players) are there. Faf didn't even have shoes on.They're all just waiting there looking stressed. I asked to Mitch, 'what's going on?' And he said, 'the town 60 kilometres away had just been smacked by some of the missiles'."

"And so there was a complete blackout in the area, which meant that's why the lights were off because the Dharmasala stadium was like a beacon at that point in time."

With the stadium fully illuminated amid a region-wide blackout, the team was hastily evacuated. "So all of a sudden we're crammed into vans and off we go back to the hotel. There was madness. We're sitting on the bus with some of the Punjab players. I think Shreyas was on my bus. It was just like get in a van as soon as you can get out of there," she said.

Both teams' squads and staff were eventually relocated to Delhi through a complex combination of road and rail travel, passing through Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar. The league was suspended for a week and is set to resume on May 17, with many overseas players preparing to return.

(With inputs from PTI)