‘Faf du Plessis didn't have shoes on, we were crammed in vans. Starc said a town was smacked by missile': Alyssa Healy

Hindustan Times

13-05-2025

Australia Women's team captain Alyssa Healy, who is also Mitchell Starc's wife, shared the happenings of the fateful night in Dharamsala when the Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals IPL match was called off midway for security reasons. The official reason given by the BCCI at that time was due to a technical failure of floodlights at the HPCA stadium but in reality, it was due to air sirens that went off in places not too far away from Dharamsala due to the India-Pakistan border tension. It marked the first such instance of an IPL getting abandoned due to security reasons.
PBKS were 122 for 1 in 10.1 overs when a light tower went off. Slowly, another was dimmed and then another as the players were asked to get off the field. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal was seen directing the spectators to evacuate the stadium peacefully. A blackout had been ordered in Dharamsala.
Healy, who was in the stands along with other family members of the DC players, narrated how things unfolded on that night.
"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… we're a large group of family and extra support staff and the next minute the guy who wrangles the group of us and gets us on the bus came up and his face was white," Healy said on The Willow Talk Podcast.
The wicketkeeper-batter said DC star Faf du Plessis was not even wearing his shoes when she reached the dressing rooms and upon asking her husband, Mitchell Starc, the Australian pacer informed that there have been drone sightings and air-raid warning nearby.
"He was like, 'we need to go right now'. Then another guy came out and his face was white and he grabbed one of the children and said, 'we need to leave right now'. We were like, 'what's going on?' We weren't told anything. We had no idea. Next minute we are being shuffled into this room which was like a holding pen. All the boys were in there. Faf du Plessis didn't even have shoes on. We were all just waiting there, looking stressed. 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. 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," she said.
"We ended up going southwest towards the (Pakistan) border, which was a little bit terrifying. Mitch and I have played too much Call of Duty and we're noticing all surface-to-missile sites that were just sitting there ready to go. They're radar-operated systems that shoot missiles at aircraft. We saw a few of them on the way through in some small towns. Some peanut down in the village decides it's a great idea to set off some fireworks in the middle of the day. I think everyone at lunch froze, turned around and was like, 'oh my God!' And then I could pinpoint, I could see the fireworks going up. I hope it was a wedding and I hope they have a beautiful marriage but that was just not good timing. There was anxiety and terrified at the same time, but I still feel like we would have been OK. We weren't right in the firing line," Healy added.
The players, their family members, support staff and broadcasters were evacuated from Dharamsala and escorted to the Jalandhar railway station in batches through Hoshiarpur amid tight security.
The squads arrived to New Delhi aboard a special 'Vande Bharat Express'.
Kangra's Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri revealed how the contingents of the two teams were evacuated from Dharamsala and safely taken to Jalandhar from where they boarded the Delhi-bound train.
"On Friday morning, the entire contingents of both teams, including players, coaching staff, and broadcast personnel, were moved in around 40 to 50 small vehicles from Dharamsala to Hoshiarpur, located at the Punjab border," the official said.
She said this convoy was escorted by the Kangra Police and the Punjab Police took over the security arrangements once the vehicles reached Hoshiarpur.
From there, they were moved to Jalandhar to board the specially arranged train.
IPL was suspended for a week, a day later, and it was only May 12 (Monday) that BCCI announced its resumption with a revised schedule. The tournament will now begin on May 17 and the final will be played on June 3, instead of May 25.