Pakistan bans online streaming of IPL

The Pakistani government has officially banned the online streaming of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on local platforms.

This decision comes after India banned the online streaming of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the country following the recent attack in Pahalgam in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Popular streaming platforms like Tapmad have already taken down IPL matches from their websites. The ban is said to have been imposed on Friday night and will apply to all platforms that were previously showing IPL matches in Pakistan, according to a government order.

This move also comes in response to India blocking the social media accounts of several well-known Pakistani cricketers. There was no official explanation, but Indian users on platform X (formerly Twitter) reported that they could no longer access the profiles of Pakistani stars like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf. Some even claimed that Mohammad Rizwan and the official Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accounts were also blocked in India.

Screenshots shared online showed messages such as "Account not available in India" on these profiles, making them inaccessible to Indian followers.

Tensions between the two countries have increased shortly after a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, IIOJK, on 22 April, which resulted in 26 tourists losing their lives.