Rohit Sharma’s victorious Indian cricket team, which clinched the T20 World Cup by defeating South Africa on June 29, faced unexpected delays in returning home from Barbados. About 70 members of the contingent, including players, support staff, their families, and BCCI officials, were stranded in Bridgetown due to Hurricane Beryl, which forced the closure of the Barbados airport for two days. Despite the airport reopening on Wednesday morning (IST), their departure was further delayed as the special charter flight arranged by BCCI was postponed by several hours.
Originally, the plan was to fly from Barbados to the USA and then onward to India via the UAE. However, due to the size of the contingent, a charter flight had to be arranged from the USA, contributing to the extended wait. The team, initially scheduled to depart Bridgetown at 6 pm local time and arrive in Delhi by Wednesday evening, is now expected to reach New Delhi around 5 am on Thursday, according to reports.
Upon their return, the Indian players and officials are set to be felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, although the exact timing of this event has yet to be finalized. Meanwhile, Barbados and neighboring islands endured severe storm conditions from Hurricane Beryl, resulting in life-threatening winds and prompting a lockdown affecting the population of nearly 300,000.
“It’s coming home,” the BCCI wrote on X at 8:30 am on Wednesday, suggesting that the team might finally be ready to leave Barbados.
The delay in the team’s return underscores the logistical challenges posed by unforeseen weather events and the effort required to ensure the safe repatriation of the entire contingent, including their families.
“(We have) been working to ensure that everyone is safe in Barbados, Barbadians and all of the visitors, of course, who came for cricket World Cup. We were very blessed that the storm did not come on land.”
“The hurricane was 80 miles south of us, which limited, the level of damage on shore. But as you can see, we’ve had costal, infrastructure and costal assets have been badly damaged,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley stated.
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