West Indies South African teams return home delayed again: After the ICC T20 World Cup, the teams of West Indies and South Africa are still in India.

Kolkata: Teams West Indies and South Africa, which were part of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, have now not been able to return to their countries. Both these teams were to leave on a charter plane on Tuesday, but the journey was canceled at the last moment. In such a situation, now ICC has made booking for the players in different commercial flights.

An ICC source with knowledge of the matter told PTI, “All the players from West Indies and South Africa have been booked on flights of different commercial airlines. Everyone cannot be booked on the same flight, but ICC has taken care of individual booking. ICC Chairman Jay Shah himself has spoken and assured the players of their safe return home.

Darren Sammy left on Monday

The source said, “It is important to mention that Darren Sammy has left for home on Monday night.” The two teams playing their last matches in Kolkata (West Indies in the Super Eight match on March 1 and South Africa in the semi-final on March 4) have not been able to fly due to restrictions on international airspace in some parts of West Asia following the American and Israeli attacks on Iran.

This situation has forced many airlines to avoid flying through the Gulf region. ICC’s partner airline is Emirates and due to closure of airspace in Dubai they are not able to operate their flights. Due to these restrictions, travel from India to the Caribbean and Africa became very difficult, forcing cricket officials to look at other routes and chartered arrangements.

Players were to go by charter plane

According to information shared earlier, both the teams were to leave for Johannesburg in a joint chartered flight from Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon. From there the West Indies team had to go to Antigua. However, a Bengal Cricket Association official told PTI that due to some problems, the flight was canceled a few hours before the scheduled time. The message sent to the teams of West Indies and South Africa said, “As per the latest information on Tuesday afternoon, the chartered flight has been canceled and no further information has been received in this regard.”

A local official said, “Due to logistics issues, the chartered flight might have been canceled at the last minute.” The West Indies team has been stuck in Kolkata since March 1 when India knocked them out of the T20 World Cup by defeating them by five wickets in the Super Eight match at the Eden Gardens. South Africa’s campaign ended a few days later when they lost to eventual runners-up New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Eden Gardens on March 4.

Including both the teams, 34 members are waiting to return home.

At the time of this news, about 12 West Indies players and 10 support staff members are in India, while the South Africa team has 12 players and two support staff members. West Indies head coach Sammy had earlier expressed his displeasure over the delay on social media. He had posted, “Just want to go home.” Some South African players had already left India due to upcoming commitments. Keshav Maharaj, George Linde and Jason Smith have left for the bilateral series against New Zealand from March 15.