New Delhi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday confirmed that the last batch of players and support staff from South Africa and West Indies have finally left India amid days of travel uncertainty amid airspace closures due to the ongoing West Asian conflict.Push boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!The crisis was sparked when two teams were stranded in Kolkata after participating in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as tensions escalated in West Asia, with airspace over major transport hubs including Dubai being closed and international travel routes disrupted.South Africa and West Indies played their final World Cup matches in Kolkata on March 4 and March 1 respectively, but were unable to leave as scheduled due to widespread flight cancellations and logistical obstacles.
According to the ICC, the remaining members of both contingents have now safely begun their journey home.“In the past 24 hours, the remaining 29 members from South Africa and the final 16 from the West Indies have been flown back to their respective home countries, concluding a complex operation conducted under extremely challenging global travel conditions,” the ICC said in a statement.The governing body added that its priority throughout the situation has been to ensure the safety of all players and staff while responding to rapidly changing travel conditions.“Ensuring all players and staff continue to travel safely is the only objective,” the ICC said, noting that arrangements would need to be constantly adjusted as the situation evolves.“Throughout this period, ICC’s operations and logistics teams have been working with governments, airlines, charter providers, airport authorities and our membership committees to respond to a range of operational disruptions caused by the changing environment.”While nine West Indies players successfully departed earlier this week, the remaining 16 players and a team of 29 South African players traveled on commercial flights.This situation has attracted criticism from many quarters.The ICC’s airline partner Emirates has been unable to operate flights after the skies were closed over Dubai, the main transit hub for players returning home.
