T20 World Cup: England, West Indies and South Africa to leave on charter flights

The England, South Africa and West Indies teams are set to leave India over the weekend on charter planes arranged by the ICC due to the disruption in air travel caused by the ongoing military conflict in West Asia.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that England, after losing their semi-final to India on Thursday, will depart from Mumbai on Saturday evening, while West Indies and South Africa will take a different charter flight from Kolkata.

England will fly direct to London. West Indies – along with South Africa – will go to Johannesburg first and then to Antigua; both teams are still awaiting confirmation on when exactly they will depart but the understanding is that it will be on Sunday.

Some of the South African contingent – the team management along with Keshav Maharaj, Jason Smith and George Linde – will be travelling to New Zealand on Sunday for a limited-overs tour that begins on March 15.

Both the South Africa and West Indies squads have been in Kolkata since their exit from the 2026 T20 World Cup. While South Africa lost to New Zealand in the first semi-final on March 4, West Indies have been in Kolkata since their defeat against India in the last Super Eight game on March 1.

On Saturday, West Indies head coach Daren Sammy had posted “Day 6” on his X account, indicating the number of days they had been stranded in Kolkata after their final match. The Zimbabwe team had also faced delays in leaving India after playing their final match on March 1 but some of their contingent were able to leave on March 4.

India play New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday in Ahmedabad, bringing an end to the tournament that began on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka. (ESPNcricinfo)