The West Indies national cricket team and the South Africa national cricket team will finally return to their respective countries after being stuck in Kolkata for almost a week. The two teams that had played their last matches in Kolkata (West Indies in the Super 8 on March 1 and South Africa in the semi-finals on March 4) were stranded.
However, now the International Cricket Council (ICC) has arranged special flights for both the teams. The ICC on Tuesday arranged separate commercial flights for the delayed teams of West Indies and South Africa after their charter flight from Kolkata was canceled due to logistics issues.
West Indies and South African players are still stuck in Kolkata
There were problems due to international airspace restrictions in parts of West Asia due to the ongoing war between the United States and Iran. The war has wreaked havoc as many airlines have had to cancel their flights and avoid routes passing through the Gulf region due to the safety of passengers.
The official travel partner of the ICC is Emirates, and their operations are closed, and flights have been canceled as Dubai Airport has also been closed due to the war situation. All flights from India to the Caribbean and Africa were cancelled.
All West Indies and South Africa players have been booked – ICC source
Thus, ICC had to attempt to explore alternative routes and charter arrangements. An ICC source informed PTI about the developments after flights were booked for both the Windies and Proteas teams.
“All the West Indies and South African players have been booked on individual commercial airline flights. Obviously, not everyone can be booked on the same airlines, but the ICC has taken care of the individual bookings. ICC President Jay Shah has spoken personally and assured the players of a safe journey back home,” the source said.
According to a Cricket Association of Bengal official report, both the teams were scheduled to leave for Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon in a joint charter flight from Kolkata. From there the West Indies team made its way to Antigua. However, the flight was canceled hours before its scheduled departure due to “logistical issues”.
“As per the latest developments on Tuesday afternoon, the chartered flight has been canceled and no further information has been received in this regard,” the message sent to the West Indies and South Africa teams said.
“The chartered flight may have been canceled at the last minute due to logistical issues, so now most of the players are making their own arrangements,” a local official told PTI.
Will West Indies players stay?
Earlier, Windies head coach Darren Sammy had expressed his concern and posted on social media that he “just wants to go home”. Similarly, some Windies players also expressed their views on being stranded.
Zimbabwe players, who were stranded in India for the same reason, have started returning home in a phased manner after the ICC provided an alternative travel route via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, some of the West Indies players will stay back to join their respective IPL franchises. IPL is going to start from 28th March.
Also read: Sanju Samson becomes India’s new T20I captain…
