Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar urged the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing body, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to resume the 18th edition of the tournament without DJS and cheer girls to respect the sentiments of the families who lost their near and dear ones during the 'Operation Sindoor'.
IPL 2025 was suspended midway because of border tensions between India and Pakistan, and the tournament will now start from this weekend. As the ceasefire is now in effect, the BCCI announced that IPL 2025 will resume from May 17.
The first match after the resumption of the tournament will be played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In the exclusive conversation with Sports Tak, cricketing legend Gavaskar requested the BCCI to host the remainder of the IPL 2025 without DJS and cheer girls.
“What I would really like to see is. These are the last few matches; we have had about 60 games or thereabouts. I think it is the last 15 or 16 games. I would sincerely hope, because of what has happened and some families have lost their near and dear ones, I would like that there is no music. Let’s not have the DJS screaming in the middle of an over.,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
“None of that. Let the games be played. Let the crowds come in. Let’s just have a tournament, the balance of a tournament. It’s just no dancing girls, nothing. Just cricket would be a really nice way to respect the sentiment of the families who have lost their near and dear ones,” he added.
There will be 17 matches to be played in the remainder of the tournament across six venues and as per the updated schedule, the finale will take place on June 3, 2025. The revised schedule also includes two double-headers, which will be played on two Sundays. The six venues for league matches as per the revised schedule will be Bengaluru, Jaipur, Delhi, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.