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The Rohit Sharma-led Team India have been forced to extend their stay in Barbados after Hurricane Beryl, a category 4 cyclone in the Atlantic hit the island country on Saturday, June 30. Although, with conditions getting worse and the concerned authorities shutting down the airport operations, the T20 World Champions were stranded in the island country.
But what comes as good news for billions of Indians who await the arrival of the T20 World Cup winners, the Men in Blue are likely to land in Delhi on Tuesday, July 2. The Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley has confirmed that the airport operations are expected to resume within next six to 12 hours. PM Mottley also added that the team will fly as soon as the operations are normal.
Speaking to PTI, PM Mottley said, “We hope, and we’re working towards later today. I don’t want to speak in advance of it, but I’ve literally been in touch with the airport personnel and they’re doing their checks now and we want to resume normal operations as a matter of urgency.”
“There are number of people who were due to leave late last night or today or tomorrow morning. And we want to make sure that we can facilitate those persons, so I would anticipate that within the next six to 12 hours that the airport will be open,” she added. The Barbados Prime Minister also responded on Team India’s extended stay after their title glory due to these uncertain circumstances.
“I’m sure that in spite of the passage of the hurricane, that they would have been in a very, very, very good mood and spirit and to win in the manner that they won on Saturday, I think they will be floating on air for a little time,” she told PTI. Furthermore, she added that her team is working that everyone who travelled for the World Cup is safe. “(We have) been working to ensure that everyone is safe in Barbados, Barbadians and all of the visitors, of course, who came for the Cricket World Cup. We were very blessed that the storm did not come on land. The hurricane was 80 mile south of us, which limited the level of damage on shore. But as you can seen, we’ve had coastal infrastructure, and coastal assets have been badly damaged,” Mottley added.
