The Indian team has arrived from Manchester, England to West Indies for their limited-overs tour of the Caribbean. The team will play three ODIs beginning July 22, followed by five T20I starting July 29. Everything had to be arranged on a short notice. The final ODI against England got over on 17th, after which players who were rested went their own ways, and those supposed to travel to the Windies assembled and took a chartered flight, not commercial, as a result of which the flight cost the BCCI as sum as hefty as ₹3.5 crore.
As per a report in the Times of India, that is amount of money the board has spent on a flight from Manchester to Port of Spain. This includes the 16-member squad who are part of the ODIs, which means that the likes of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik were not part of it.
"The BCCI spent ₹3.5 crore on the chartered flight which took Team India from Manchester on Tuesday afternoon to Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad and Tobago) by 11.30 pm IST. The reason a chartered flight was booked for the team was not Covid-19. It's difficult to book so many tickets on a commercial flight-the Indian contingent includes 16 players and members of the support staff, including head coach Rahul Dravid. There are players' wives who have travelled to the Caribbean too," TOI quoted a source close to the BCCI as saying.
The official added that it made sense to book a chartered flight instead of a commercial plane given how common the practice has become, especially among the world's top football clubs. "Normally, in a commercial flight, this expense would've been around ₹2 crore. A business class ticket from Manchester to Port of Spain would be around ₹2 lakh. A chartered flight is more expensive, but it's a logical option to take. Most top football teams have a charter now," he added.
{{/usCountry}}The official added that it made sense to book a chartered flight instead of a commercial plane given how common the practice has become, especially among the world's top football clubs. "Normally, in a commercial flight, this expense would've been around ₹2 crore. A business class ticket from Manchester to Port of Spain would be around ₹2 lakh. A chartered flight is more expensive, but it's a logical option to take. Most top football teams have a charter now," he added.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian team reached Trinidad on Wednesday and in a video shared by the BCCI, the players were seen entering the hotel. Suryakumar Yadav and Shardul Thakur were the two players who were seen with their wives. Team India, led by Shikhar Dhawan, had its first practice session indoors as rain prevented them from training outdoors.