ICC Books Individual Commercial Flights For WI, SA Players After Charter Flight Cancellation

Kolkata: The ICC on Tuesday booked separate commercial flights for the stranded West Indies and South Africa teams after charter flights scheduled to depart from Kolkata were “canceled due to logistical issues”.

“All the West Indies and South African players have been booked on individual commercial airline flights. Obviously, they cannot all 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 return journey home,” an ICC source aware of the development told PTI on terms of anonymity.

“It’s also worth noting that Darren Sammy was already on his way home after leaving on Monday night,” the source also said.

Two teams that played their final matches in Kolkata (West Indies in the Super 8s on March 1 and South Africa in the semi-finals on March 4) were unable to fly due to disruption caused by international airspace restrictions in parts of West Asia following American and Israeli attacks on Iran.

This has forced many airlines to avoid routes in the Gulf region. ICC’s airline partner is Emirates and it is unable to operate due to the closure of Dubai airspace.

The restrictions have seriously complicated travel from India to the Caribbean and Africa, forcing cricket officials to explore alternative routes and charter arrangements.

Earlier, in a communication made on Tuesday evening, both teams were scheduled to leave Kolkata on a joint charter flight to Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon.

From there the West Indies contingent was expected to advance towards Antigua, while the South Africans were expected to disperse for their own commitments.

However, an official of the Cricket Association of Bengal told PTI that the flight arrangement was canceled hours before the scheduled departure due to some “logistical issues”.

“According to the latest development on Tuesday afternoon, ‘the chartered flight has been canceled and no further information has been received regarding this,’ read a message forwarded to the West Indies and South Africa teams.

“Due to logistical issues, the chartered flight might have been canceled at the last minute, so now the maximum number of players are making their own arrangements,” the local official told PTI.

The West Indies team has been stuck in Kolkata since March 1 after losing to India by five wickets in the T20 World Cup in the Super Eight at Eden Gardens on March 1.

South Africa’s campaign ended a few days later, on March 4, when they lost the first semi-final at the same venue to runners-up New Zealand, leaving them in the same boat.

At the time of publishing this report, around 12 West Indies players and 10 support staff members remain in India, while the South African contingent has 12 players and two support staff members.

West Indies head coach Sammy had previously expressed disappointment at the delay on social media, stating that he “just wanted to go home”.

Several South African players had already left due to upcoming commitments.

Keshav Maharaj, George Linde and Jason Smith left for New Zealand ahead of the bilateral series against the home team on March 15.

Earlier, Cricket West Indies had said it was working with the International Cricket Council to arrange the team’s safe travel amid the complex situation caused by airspace restrictions.

“While the situation remains complex and fluid due to international airspace restrictions resulting from security concerns in the Gulf region, CWI reassures the public that every precaution has been taken to ensure the safe return of the team to the Caribbean,” CWI said. he said.

Some of the West Indies players are likely to stay back to join their respective IPL franchises. The IPL is scheduled to start by the end of this month.

Rovman Powell is part of Kolkata Knight Riders, whose camp will begin on March 18, while Sherfane Rutherford represents Mumbai Indians.

Shimron Hetmyer plays for Rajasthan Royals and Romario Shepherd plays for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who are expected to start training from March 15.