The England, South Africa and West Indies men’s cricket teams will reportedly leave from India over the first weekend of March 2026 on chartered flights arranged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after disruption to commercial air travel due to the ongoing conflict involving the United States of America, Israel and Iran.
England, who lost narrowly to India in the second semi-final on Thursday (March 5), are expected to depart from Mumbai on Saturday evening in a direct flight to London. West Indies and South Africa are the other two sides still in India despite their campaigns having ended.
While the Windies were eliminated in the Super Eights after Suryakumar Yadav and Co defeated them by five wickets at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, South Africa’s campaign wound up after their crushing loss to New Zealand in the first semi-final on Wednesday. South Africa and West Indies will travel together from Kolkata on another charter flight, the report added.
The two sides are likely to fly first to Johannesburg before the West Indies contingent continues onward to Antigua. The exact departure time is not confirmed yet but the flight is expected to leave on Sunday.
Some South African players, including members of the team management and Keshav Maharaj, Jason Smith and George Linde, will head to New Zealand on Sunday for a limited overs tour starting on March 15, the report further stated.
The Cricket West Indies had on Thursday said that arrangements were being made for a charter flight to take the team back home after they remained stuck in the city for more than four days due to international airspace restrictions in the Gulf region.
“During a high-level call earlier today involving CWI, ICC officials, a representative of team management, and a representative of the players, it was confirmed that a charter flight is currently being arranged for the team’s departure from India, with the expected departure scheduled within the next 24 hours,” a CWI statement had read.
“The departure time remains subject to final air traffic approvals. The team remains safe and well as arrangements continue to be finalized,” the governing body had added. CWI said it had been in constant touch with the players, team management and the International Cricket Council while working on travel arrangements.
