“I will never visit Pakistan”: Rishad Hossain reveals Daryl Mitchell’s emotional words after suspension of PSL 2025

Following the suspension of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) due to the escalating tension between India and Pakistan, Bangladesh leg-spinner Rishad Hossain expressed his relief upon reaching Dubai on Saturday. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) formally cancelled the PSL on Friday. Earlier, PCB wanted to host the remaining matches in Dubai but the Emirates Cricket Board refused to accept their proposal.

Rishad revealed that New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell told him that he would never consider returning to Pakistan, especially in such a volatile situation, as the overseas players were visibly shaken. “Foreign players like Sam Billings, Daryl Mitchell, Kushal Perera, David Wiese, Tom Curran were frightened. After we landed in Dubai, Mitchell told me that he would never go to Pakistan again. They were horrified,” Rishad said at the Dubai Airport, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

He also spoke about how difficult it was to calm down the distressed English cricketer Tom Curran, who started crying.”He (Tom Curran) arrived at the airport only to find out that it was shut down. He became so overwhelmed that it took two or three people to calm him down,” he added.

Rishad, a member of the Lahore Qalandars, and pacer Nahid Rana from Peshawar Zalmi were the two Bangladeshi players participating in PSL 2025.

All international players participating in the PSL were flown to the UAE from where they had connecting flights to their respective destinations.

“Alhamdulillah, we’ve made it to Dubai after managing to get through a tough situation, and I’m feeling much better now. When we landed in Dubai, we learned that a missile had struck the airport just 20 minutes after we had taken off. The news was both frightening and heartbreaking. Now that we’ve reached Dubai, there’s a sense of relief,” he added.

Rishad noted that PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi wanted to host the remaining PSL matches in Karachi. However, the decision was changed after taking the security issues into consideration.

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