Advertisement
X

Indian Team To Return Tomorrow Evening As Barbados PM Expects Airport To Open Soon: Report

Indian players alongside their families, support staff and some BCCI officials have been stranded in Bridgetown since their World Cup win last Saturday due to hurricane Beryl that has disrupted routine life in south-east Caribbean

AP/Ramon Espinosa

The 2024 T20 World Cup-winning Indian team is set to leave Barbados capital Bridgetown by 6 PM local time Tuesday and reach New Delhi by 7:45 PM IST on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported on Tuesday quoting sources. (More Cricket News)

Indian players alongside their families, support staff and some BCCI officials have been stranded in Bridgetown since their World Cup win last Saturday due to hurricane Beryl that has disrupted routine life in south-east Caribbean. Barbados has been in a lockdown since Sunday evening as the category 4 hurricane has brought with itself life-threatening winds and storms.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that she expects the Bridgetown airport to become operational within six to 12 hours, ending the shutdown forced by a category 4 hurricane. Once airport starts operating, the Indian team will then fly home aboard a charter flight on Tuesday evening.

"I don't want to speak in advance of it, but I've literally been in touch with the airport personnel and they're doing their last checks now and we want to resume to normal operations as a matter of urgency," Mottley, who has been overseeing relief operations on the ground, told PTI.

"There are a number of people who were due to leave yet last night late or today or tomorrow morning. And we want to make sure that we can facilitate those persons, so I would anticipate that within the next six to 12 hours that the airport will be open," she said.

The Barbados prime minister said they have been working to ensure everyone's safety. "(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."

She hoped that the Indians, who have stayed put at their hotel since winning the trophy, will be in high spirits despite the lockdown, having ended a title drought of 11 years.

Advertisement

"I'm sure that in spite of the passage of the hurricane, that they would have been in very, very, very good mood and spirit and to win in the manner that they won on Saturday. I think they will be floating on air for a little time," she quipped.

India had defeated South Africa by seven runs in a thrilling T20 World Cup final on Saturday to end their 11-year wait for an ICC trophy.

Show comments
US