Chartered flight arranged for West Indies to travel back home following Daren Sammy's impassioned appeal: Report

The West Indies are stuck in India since their defeat to the co-hosts at the Eden Gardens on March 1, all thanks to the war in the Middle East.

Updated on: Mar 5, 2026, 18:09:24 IST

Written by Prateek Srivastava

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Seems like Daren Sammy's impassioned appeal has been answered.

Daren Sammy totally lost his composure for the large part of Thursday. (HT_PRINT)

West Indies' T20 World Cup got over on Sunday after a defeat by India, but they are still here, in Kolkata to be precise. Because the ongoing trouble in the Middle East, triggered by the war between Iran and the alliance of Israel and America, has affected the airspace operations all over the world.

On Thursday, Sammy made quite a few posts on X which reflected his state of mind not a little. “I just wanna go home,” that's how he started.

Also Read: ‘I just wanna go home’: Daren Sammy’s cry for help as West Indies still stuck in India despite T20 World Cup exit

A few hours later, the West Indies head coach came up with this: "At least an update, tell us something. Today tmw [tomorrow], next week. It’s been 5 days."

Now there is another post which is going to soothe a lot of nerves in the West Indian camp. Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain, Sammy wrote: "Got an update. that’s all wi [West Indies] wanted." It's easy to guess that some good news has finally arrived for them.

A chartered flight has been arranged?

PTI has reported that a chartered flight has been arranged for the Caribbean to take them out of India. Though the news agency has not disclosed who the source is.

"It is completely handled by ICC. We have no update on the West Indies team's movement but as per the latest update they are still here and looking for a chartered flight," a Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) official told the Indian news agency.

Earlier, Cricket West Indies (CWI) that governs cricket in the Caribbean archipelago had issued a statement and asked for understanding in these troubled and challenging times.

"Cricket West Indies (CWI) wishes to advise that the departure of the West Indies senior men's team from India, following their exit from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, has been delayed due to international airspace restrictions.

"These restrictions are a direct result of the security threats posed by military action in the Gulf Region, which has impacted several international flight routes and required airlines to adjust scheduled services for safety reasons.

"CWI appreciates the understanding and concern of our fans, families and stakeholders during this time," the statement read.

West Indies had a good T20 World Cup. They had beaten England in one of their group matches, however, losses against South Africa and India in the Super 8s brought an end to their campaign.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prateek Srivastava
Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

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