Australian women's team captain Alyssa Healy has described the ordeal they went through at the Dharamsala Stadium on May 8 amid the Delhi Capitals' IPL 2025 match against the Punjab Kings getting called off midway. Healy recalled the controlled chaos that surrounded them and they were being crammed into the vans to ensure their safety.
A sudden floodlight failure triggered at the Dharamsala Stadium after 10.1 overs of the first innings had been played out. A few moments later, the match had been called off due to escalating attacks from Pakistan in the nearby regions, forcing the personnel to urge spectators to evacuate the venue. The BCCI eventually decided to suspend the tournament for a week.
Speaking on the Willow Talk Podcast, Healy remembers asking her husband and Capitals' pacer Mitchell Starc what was going on. The latter pointed out about missile strikes happening, triggering a complete blackout.
"It was a surreal experience. All of a sudden a couple of the light towers went out and we were just sitting there up the top waiting. I said to Mitch, 'What’s going on?' He said the town 60km away had just been smacked by some of the missiles so there was a complete blackout in the area."
The Queenslander added:
"That’s why the lights were off because the Dharamsala stadium was like a beacon at that point in time. All of a sudden we’re crammed into vans and off we go back to the hotel. There was madness ... we didn’t have a whole heap of information as to what was going on."
"At the end of the day they evacuated the stadium as a precaution" - Alyssa Healy
Healy suggested that she felt uneasy as matches were taking place despite the situation being tense a few miles away.
"That's probably been the scariest part of this whole situation is the misinformation. Quite close to what’s being fought over, but we were assured everything was fine, 'Everything is OK. It’s miles away, the game will go ahead and everything will be fine'. At the end of the day they evacuated the stadium as a precaution, which was fine, but it was probably a little bit too close for comfort."
