Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 5: Top Pakistani cricketers, including captain Babar Azam and Shahid Afridi, among others, were brought to the safety of the dressing room, after a terrorist blast occurred a few kilometres from where they were playing on Sunday.
An explosion in the vicinity of the Police Lines temporarily stopped a Pakistan Super League (PSL) exhibition game that was taking place at the Nawab Akbar Bugti Stadium. Five people were injured in the incident. According to a senior police official, all on-site rescue efforts had been completed, and the injured had been transported to a hospital.
In a statement on Sunday, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an outlawed organisation, claimed responsibility for the attack. It said that the explosive was aimed for the security personnel.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) organised the exhibition game between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi after Baloch fans pushed for Quetta to be recognised as a PSL venue.
“As soon as the explosion happened, as a precautionary measure, the match was stopped and players taken to the dressing room for a while. Later, after the green signal, the match resumed,” the police official said.
The stadium was crowded for the game.
Due to the precarious security situation and the fear of terrorist attacks, sports activity has been completely stopped in Quetta, the capital of the unrest-ridden Balochistan province, for the past few years.
