Special arrangements for players amid war in West Asia, players from these countries will leave for home by charter plane

Dubai: The teams of England, South Africa and West Indies will leave for home on a charter flight provided by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to disruption in air travel due to the ongoing war in West Asia.

England, after losing their second final to India on Thursday, will leave from Mumbai on Saturday evening, while West Indies and South Africa will take a separate charter flight from Kolkata. The England team will take a direct flight to London. West Indies, along with South Africa, will first go to Johannesburg and then Antigua. Both teams are still waiting for confirmation on exactly when they will leave, but it is believed they will leave on Sunday.

Some of the South African team, along with team management Keshav Maharaj, Jason Smith and George Linde, will travel to New Zealand on Sunday for the limited overs tour starting on March 15. Both South Africa and West Indies are in Kolkata after being ruled out of the 2026 T20 World Cup. South Africa lost to New Zealand in the first semi-final on March 4, while West Indies are in Kolkata after losing to India in the last Super Eight game on March 1.

On Saturday, West Indies head coach Darren Sammy had posted “Day 6” on his social media account, marking the number of days they were stuck in Kolkata after their last match. The Zimbabwe team was also delayed in leaving India after playing their last match on March 1, but some of their players were able to leave on March 4. India will play New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad on Sunday. With this, this tournament which started on February 7 will come to an end.