Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and women’s team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana have expressed their solidarity with the Indian armed forces as they continue to respond strongly to recent aerial attacks from Pakistan. Pakistan continued its aerial attacks, comprising drones and missiles, on Indian border cities as well as across other military stations in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat on Friday. But all of them were successfully foiled by India’s defence systems. The attacks are in response to the Operation Sindoor initiated by Indian armed forces on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, after 26 people, mainly tourists, were killed in a terror attack in Pahalgam last month.
“Thoughts with our armed forces. #OperationSindoor,” wrote Ashwin on his X account on Saturday.
Smriti, currently involved in the women’s ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka, too wrote on Instagram, “Saluting the courage, commitment and sacrifice of our Indian Armed Forces. Your strength protects our freedom. We stand with you, always, Vande Mataram.”
Sneh Rana, the veteran off-spinner who is also playing in the tri-series in Sri Lanka, also urged people to refrain from spreading fake news around the cross-border attacks. “In these testing times it’s an earnest request from all citizens of India to refrain from spreading fake news and propaganda.”
“Please be mindful and calm. My heart goes out for Indian armed forces for fighting so valiantly for the safety of its motherland. Jai Hind,’ she wrote on her ‘X’ account on Saturday.
Due to the cross-border tension, the IPL 2025 season has been suspended for a week by the BCCI, which made the announcement on Friday. Till now, IPL 2025 has hosted 58 games, with 12 matches left to be played in the league stage, followed by the playoffs. It remains to be seen how the situation unfolds in the next few days, so that the tournament gets a window for resumption.
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