Indian team finally set to take off from Barbados after Hurricane stranding

The Indian cricket team is scheduled to return home on a charter flight from Barbados on Tuesday evening, following their victory in the T20 World Cup 2024.

This comes after Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressed optimism that the airport would resume operations within the "next six to 12 hours" after a Category 4 hurricane caused its closure.

Hurricane Beryl struck the island on Sunday evening, leaving the World Cup-winning squad, their support staff, some BCCI officials, and the players' families stranded in Barbados for the past two days.

Prime Minister Mottley mentioned that she has been in constant communication with airport personnel, who are conducting final checks to reopen the airport urgently.

The Indian team is expected to depart from Bridgetown at 6 pm local time and arrive in Delhi on Wednesday at 7:45 pm IST. The players are also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, though the details of this event are yet to be finalized.

Five players—Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, and Sanju Samson—will head to Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series. The rest of the squad for this series had already left India earlier on Tuesday.

Barbados has been under lockdown since Sunday evening due to the life-threatening winds and storms brought by Hurricane Beryl. Prime Minister Mottley stated that efforts have been made to ensure the safety of everyone in Barbados, including visitors who came for the cricket World Cup.