Cricket league feat. Gayle implodes in J&K: Organisers flee, players stranded | How ‘Heaven League’ turned hellish

ACricket tourney called the ‘ amerind Heaven premiere conference’ or IHPL, a extremely anticipated T20 showcase intended to bring global cricket visibility to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), has collapsed in a heap, with organisers allegedly fleeing Srinagar overnight.The abrupt stop to the tournament on Sunday left approximately 40 players, umpires and others marooned in hotels, unpaid and confused, multiple reports said on Monday, November 3.The IHPL was organised primarily by a non-profit organisation focused called Yuva Society, reportedly with help from state sports authorities. It attracted several former international stars, including West Indies star Chris Gayle, New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder, and Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera. It was meant to run from October 25 to November 8, as per streaming platform FanCode, but the dream vanished into the Srinagar night, along with the organisers.Also read | Kashmir marathon draws 1,100 runners from India & abroad, Omar leads from the frontMellissa Juniper, an umpire from England, told reporters that the organisers “fled from the hotel” and failed to pay the hotel, the players, or the umpires. A senior official at The Residency Hotel, where most participants stayed, told TOI that the organisers disappeared without clearing dues.Some players, including Gayle, had already checked out of the hotel on Saturday after sensing some issues with the organisers and the tournament, reports said.Former Team India all-rounder Parvez Rasool, who played in the league, revealed that some players were briefly stopped from leaving their accommodations until the issue escalated to foreign diplomatic channels, according to a report by NDTV.The IHPL was statedly aimed at promoting sports tourism, youth empowerment, and grassroots cricket development in the region — particularly amid relative normalcy despite the terror attack in April in Pahalgam that left 26 tourists dead.Also read | HT interview: When you don’t get to decide who your officers are, it’s not a pretty picture, says Omar AbdullahIt was announced on September 18 with former Indian cricketer Surinder Khanna among the “mentors”. It had eight teams named after areas or cities within J&K and Ladakh UTs.The government was not the main organiser, reports said, but a press release from October 22 indicated its involvement in preparations.The expectation was to have 25,000–30,000 spectators at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar, with Gayle making a video announcement too.The roster listed 32 international players, but Gayle’s matches were the only ones that drew crowds. Dipping attendance led to financial problems with sponsors too, said local reports. The turnout remained dismal even after ticket prices were slashed.There are reports also that logistical failures were evident from the start, such that there were no uniforms on the first day. Sponsors likely pulled out at the last moment, resulting in organisers running out of funds, though confirmation on that was awaited.More information from the government was also not available immediately.But people who had bought tickets worth ₹1,000 each returned home disappointed on Sunday, a report in Morning Kashmir said. “We waited for hours, but there was no announcement, no organisers, and no match. Even the ticket counters were closed,” Bilal Ahmad, a cricket enthusiast from Budgam, told the publication. “No one is talking about refunds… We have been cheated.”Eventually 13 matches could be played, with the last one on Saturday seeing Gayle playing a fast knock of 88 runs to mostly empty stands.