SRINAGAR: Even as calm returns to the subcontinent after a tense military faceoff between India and Pakistan earlier this month, unsettling stories continue to emerge from the disrupted Indian Premier League (IPL) season. England all-rounder Moeen Ali, who represents Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), has shared a personal and chilling account of how the conflict upended not only cricket but also the lives of players and their families.
Moeen, along with his family, was caught in India, and his parents were trapped on the other side of the border.
Ali revealed that his parents were on the Pakistani side of Kashmir, barely an hour away from the area struck during the Indian military’s Operation Sindoor. “My parents were actually in Kashmir at the time… in Pakistan, only about an hour away from where the strikes happened, probably. Maybe a bit farther. So it was a bit crazy,” he said during an interview with the Beard Before Wicket podcast. “They managed to get the only flights out actually on that day. I was glad they got out, but it was crazy.”
The 37-year-old cricketer, whose grandfather migrated from Mirpur to the UK and whose grandmother was British, was in India at the time with his wife and children, preparing for the second half of the IPL 2025 season with KKR. The tournament was suspended on May 8 during a match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala following power outages caused by drone attacks from across the border.
“It was mad… There were those attacks in Kashmir before everything really kicked off. Then within no time, things just rapidly escalated and all of a sudden we’re in the middle. It felt like we’re in the middle of a war, but obviously we didn’t hear anything,” Moeen said in the interview, describing the situation that existed at that point in time. “All of a sudden you’re just scrambling to get out of the country and to make sure your family’s fine.”
Ali’s decision to leave India preceded the official suspension of the tournament. He said he had been unwell, possibly with a viral illness, and chose to prioritise his safety and health. “I was just out before they even cancelled it, to be honest,” he said. “I wasn’t well, so I was really sick at the time… I was just making sure I was fit enough to just get out of there.”
Moeen also noted the psychological toll of not knowing what might happen next. “People weren’t quite sure what was happening. I spoke to a lot of the guys. Some were like, ‘There won’t be a war, everything will be fine.’ Others were convinced there would be some kind of retaliation. There’s so much lying going on, the news outlets, the journalists. You don’t know exactly what’s going on, and that’s the scary bit.”
Moeen praised the Kolkata Knight Riders management for their support during the crisis. “They looked after us really well. They were like, ‘Whatever you want, whatever you need, we’ll try and support you as much as we can’. So they were amazing at that.”
Reflecting on the broader picture, Moeen said he found it surreal to be caught in the geopolitical crossfire. “Obviously having a Pakistani background and being in India while this is happening, I genuinely believe these are the same people, just split by borders. Good people on both sides. Amazing food is the same, everything’s the same.”
A self-professed conspiracy theorist, Moeen also ventured into speculative territory, suggesting that the timing of the hostilities may have served as a geopolitical distraction. “I think it was more like an America versus China thing in terms of weapons… There’s a lot of theories. I think it’s a distraction from what’s actually happening in Israel and Gaza,” he said.
The IPL resumed on May 17 but only in six cities, with several franchises, including KKR, not playing their remaining home games at their usual venues. Moeen Ali, however, is among the few international players who have opted out of returning for the remainder of the season.
