New Delhi, March 7 – The long wait for the West Indies cricket team to leave India after being eliminated from the 2026 T20 World Cup in the Super 8s is finally coming to an end. The Caribbean team, along with England and South Africa, will depart from India over the weekend on a special charter plane arranged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to travel disruptions in the Middle East.
According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, two-time champions England will depart from Mumbai on Saturday evening, while the 2012 and 2016 T20 World Cup champions, West Indies, along with South Africa, will take a different charter flight from Kolkata.
The West Indies' departure from Kolkata, where they lost to India by five wickets in their last Super 8 clash on March 1, was delayed by a week due to airspace restrictions in the Middle East region following the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
South Africa, who lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals on Wednesday, are also stranded in Kolkata, while England are staying in Mumbai after losing to India in the second semi-final on Thursday.
"England will fly directly to London. The West Indies, along with South Africa, will first go to Johannesburg and then to Antigua; both teams are still awaiting confirmation on the exact departure date, but the understanding is that it will be on Sunday," the report added.
On Saturday, West Indies head coach Daren Sammy had posted "Day 6" on his X account, indicating the number of days they had been stranded in Kolkata after their final match. While their spinner, Akeal Hosein, demanded help from footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to take the team home.
“At this point, I'm better off asking Cristiano to send the jet and come rescue me, yes,” he wrote on X on Friday.
Earlier, the Zimbabwe cricket team was also stranded in New Delhi for the same reason, but they departed on Thursday after the ICC arranged alternative travel for them to return to Harare via Addis Ababa.
