Indian Railways deploys special Vande Bharat to ferry IPL players, crew from Dharamshala
After Thursday's India Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was abruptly halted at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, the Ministry of Railways stepped in, arranging a special Vande Bharat train to ferry both teams, their support staff, as well as commentators and technical crew to Delhi.
The game, after being called off midway, left dozens of players and personnel stranded. With civil flights grounded in parts of North and West India amid escalating tensions with Pakistan, the Indian Railways stepped up to fill the gap. On Friday, members of both squads, including names like Shreyas Iyer, Faf du Plessis, and Kuldeep Yadav, boarded the high-speed train to the capital. Also spotted on board were well-known commentators like Anjum Chopra.
A video shared by the official IPL account showcased moments from the journey — players relaxing and staff being served refreshments. In the clip, Yadav praised the smooth handling of the situation: 'Team members bohot hain, staff bohot hain… Jis tarah se manage kiya, woh bohot accha tha (There are a lot of team members, a lot of staff. Many people from the BCCI were involved – from cameramen to various technical personnel – the entire crew was quite large. The way everything was managed was really good)' he said, appreciating the BCCI and the railway authorities.
Thank you, @RailMinIndia, for arranging a special Vande Bharat train on such short notice to ferry the players, support staff, commentators, production crew members, and operations staff to New Delhi.
We deeply appreciate your swift response. 🙌🏽@AshwiniVaishnaw | @JayShah |… pic.twitter.com/tUwzc5nGWD
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 9, 2025
The video quickly went viral, with fans lauding the Indian Railways in the comment section. A user commented, 'Indian railway is doing a great job.' Another user wrote, 'Mature and good decision by BCCI to suspend the match for the safety of players, staff and crowd.'
A third person said, 'They might've gotten better service on Vande Bharat than on IndiGo!'
With 32 airports temporarily closed to civilian flights – a direct result of the recent military escalations following India's precision strikes under 'Operation Sindoor' and subsequent retaliatory actions by Pakistan – the travel of IPL personnel had to be reworked overnight. Originally, around 25 airports were shut down near the India-Pakistan border or close to strategic Air Force bases. But as the situation intensified, additional airports were added to the no-fly list, extending restrictions until at least 5:29 AM on May 15, according to official Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs).
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