Special Flight for Indian teams due to Hurricane

The Indian cricket team is preparing to depart from Barbados on a special flight organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) due to disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl. The team has been stuck in Barbados since their T20 World Cup 2024 triumph on June 29 in Bridgetown. Hurricane Beryl escalated to a category 4 storm on July 1, resulting in significant delays.

As per a report by India Today's Vikrant Gupta, the team is set to leave Barbados at 6:00 PM local time on Tuesday, which translates to approximately 3:30 AM IST on Wednesday. They are expected to land in Delhi by 7:45 PM on July 3.

"Great news. The Indian team will finally depart from Barbados on a special flight organised by BCCI on Tuesday at 6 pm local time. They will arrive in Delhi around 7.45 pm on Wednesday," Gupta shared on X.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley anticipates that the country's airport will resume operations within the "next six to 12 hours," putting an end to the closure caused by the hurricane. The Rohit Sharma-led T20 World Cup 2024 winning team, along with their support staff, various BCCI officials, and players' families, have been stranded for the past two days due to the hurricane. The team clinched the title on June 29 with a thrilling seven-run triumph over South Africa in the final.

"We are hopeful, and we are working towards reopening later today. I don't want to give premature information, but I've been in communication with the airport personnel and they are completing their final checks. We aim to resume normal operations as soon as possible," Mottley stated as per PTI on July 2.

"There are numerous individuals who were scheduled to depart yesterday night, or today, or tomorrow morning. We aim to ensure that we can facilitate these individuals, so I expect that the airport will be operational within the next six to 12 hours," she added.

"We have been working diligently to ensure the safety of everyone in Barbados, Barbadians, and all the visitors who came for the cricket World Cup. We were fortunate that the storm didn't hit the land. The hurricane stayed 80 miles south of us, which minimised the damage on land. However, we have witnessed significant damage to coastal infrastructure and assets," Mottley expressed.