by Syed Shadab Ali Gillani
SRINAGAR: On a bright Sunday morning, as hundreds of runners from across India and the world raced through Srinagar’s streets in the Kashmir Marathon 2025, celebrating endurance and unity, a very different drama was unfolding just across the Jhelum. On the opposite bank of the river, the Indian Heaven Premier League (IHPL) was collapsing in disgrace — its organisers had fled, its players were locked in hotel rooms, and what had begun as Kashmir’s most ambitious private cricket league was now ending as an embarrassing spectacle of deceit and desertion.
The league, which kicked off at Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium on October 25, was suspended midway on Sunday after players and umpires refused to take the field over unpaid dues. Matches scheduled for the weekend were cancelled after both the players and match officials accused the management of vanishing overnight.
According to reports appearing in the media, the organisers, said to be from Delhi, have defaulted on payments running into tens of lakhs. The hotel where players were lodged, overlooking the Jhelum in Rajbagh, confirmed that bills amounting to more than Rs 80 lakh remain unpaid. “The organisers had booked the rooms until November 9, but they didn’t pay a penny. We had to lock the rooms this morning,” a hotel official said. “We allowed the players to check out, but our dues remain unpaid.”
The IHPL, promoted as a high-profile cricket event featuring international and domestic stars, included eight teams. The organisers had announced the participation of 32 former international cricketers, though in reality, only a handful arrived. Former West Indies legend Chris Gayle and ex-Indian pacer Praveen Kumar were the headline names, while Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera, South African player Richard Levi, Omani cricketer Ayan Khan, and Pakistani-origin Shoaib Muhammad featured briefly before leaving.
Gayle had played three matches before departing; Perera featured in just one. The rest of the line-up comprised former Indian domestic players like Parvez Rasool, Iqbal Abdullah, Faiz Fazal, and Ishwar Pandey, alongside local Kashmiri talent.
Adil Reshi, a former Ranji player from Jammu and Kashmir, said he had withdrawn from the league three days earlier after non-payment of dues. “There was no official contract, no structure, it was completely mismanaged,” he said. “I warned the younger players to leave before things worsened.”
Mellissa Juniper, an umpire associated with the England and Wales Cricket Board who officiated in the league, told reporters that the management had fled late Saturday night. “Bills have not been paid to anyone — not to the hotel, not to the umpires, not to the players. Their phones are switched off. We had to speak to the hotel to let the players go home,” she said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council has clarified that the IHPL was a private event and not associated with any government body or the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). “They hired the Bakshi Stadium on rent and got permission from the Srinagar administration. The organisers were from Delhi, and it was a private league,” Nuzhat Gul, Secretary of the Sports Council, told reporters. She offered no details as to why the Council did not investigate the League before permitting them to create a facade of a show.
What was promoted as a proud moment for Kashmir’s sporting community, inaugurated by the state’s Youth Services and Sports Minister Satish Sharma on October 25, has now become an embarrassing spectacle. The league’s final, originally scheduled for November 8, is unlikely to take place.
Sources have told local news outlets that one of the organisers flew to Delhi “to arrange funds” but has not returned or responded to calls. Even advertising agencies, LED board suppliers, and catering contractors have complained of unpaid dues. “Our Rs 30 lakh is stuck with them,” said one vendor. “Many others are in the same position — this was a trap.”
The IHPL’s website lists its parent organisation as Yuva Society, a Mohali-based youth NGO founded in 2011 that claims to promote sports and social initiatives. The society’s listed members include Parminder Singh, Tej Gobind Singh, Saurav Gulati, Manpreet Singh, and Randeep Singh Baidwan. Among its cricketing faces are former India player Surinder Khanna and entrepreneur-cricketer Munish Soni, described as the league’s overseas coordinator. The Society’s website portrays IHPL as part of a broader effort to “empower youth through sports”, but its legitimacy and financial accountability now face serious scrutiny.
Local cricketers and fans have reacted with anger and disappointment. In a Facebook post that went viral, Kashmir-based cricketer Arif Kataria wrote that he had refused to join the IHPL due to “no authentication, no written agreement, and no transparency.” He accused “a few outsiders” of exploiting the credibility of Kashmir’s local cricket ecosystem. “We built this cricket culture from scratch, and we will protect it. The fans stayed away from this so-called league — the empty stands said it all,” Kataria wrote.
As players begin to leave Srinagar, the episode has raised sharp questions about the unchecked proliferation of privately-run leagues in India, many operating outside the oversight of the BCCI. For Kashmir, which had been trying to project itself as a hub for sports tourism, the collapse of the IHPL is a deep embarrassment, a reminder of how easily dreams of glamour and opportunity can turn into a spectacle of deceit and disarray.
The IHPL was not connected to the high-profile event that preceded it. Last year, the Legends League Cricket (LLC), a franchise-based T20 tournament featuring retired international stars, announced plans to stage matches in Srinagar, following its successful run of fixtures in Jammu.
