Shallow refutes claims that Windies’ departure from India was mishandled

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

President of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Dr Kishore Shallow, has dismissed suggestions that both the International Cricket Council (ICC) and CWI failed in their efforts to bring the regional team home from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in a timely manner.

Due to the ongoing war in west Asia, which caused disruption in air travel and forced the closure of several international airports, the West Indies senior men’s team was stranded in India for nine days after being eliminated from the tournament on March 1.

Following three unsuccessful efforts by the ICC to bring the team home, CWI made the decision on March 10 to abandon plans for an ICC-organised charter flight and secure commercial travel for its squad members.

The majority of players have already returned home, with the remainder set to reach their destinations in the coming hours.

Speaking during an interview on iSports i95.5 FM on Thursday, Dr Shallow maintained that everything had been done by the ICC to get the team home safely.

He explained that due to the Caribbean’s location, securing a charter plane was extremely difficult because of the war.

“It [the delay] was obviously caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East ... and whereas our flights from India are usually through Dubai, this wasn’t possible. And so the ICC, who is responsible for logistics, it being a world event, they tried and they made tremendous efforts to get the teams back home safely and in a timely manner, but it simply wasn’t possible.

“The delay wasn’t as a result of a lack of effort on the part of the ICC and certainly not CWI. We were in constant communication with them from the time we got eliminated after the Super Eights to try to see how we could get the team out,” Dr Shallow said.

“They were a couple charters confirmed then they were cancelled, and it was a case of simply not getting civil aviation approval and so on. The last thing which you probably would have seen, is where a couple of the airports – one in Johannesburg and one in Antigua and Barbuda – where they stated that they cannot allow ad hoc chartered flights to be refuelled.

“I don’t know what was the cause of that, if it had to do with the challenges from the ongoing war, but it was a case where efforts were made, flights were put on and they were cancelled. And yes, one may argue and say, ‘How did England get home so quickly?’ but the reality is that England is a direct flight away and they were able to get a flight straight from India,” he added.

Dr Shallow said the main objective of the ICC and CWI was getting the players home safely.

“We can’t just discount the fact that there is a war that is disrupting the entire world. First and foremost was the safety of the players, getting players back home safely. We weren’t going to take a risk with the players’ travels back home.

“West Indies is the furthest point away from India. Most of the other countries that were left there in India, they could have had a direct flight back home. South Africa has a direct flight, and they encountered a similar challenge to us,” Dr Shallow said.

Despite the frightening ordeal, Dr Shallow said he was particularly impressed with the manner in which the players handled the situation.

He gave the assurance that during their time in India, the West Indies team was well taken care of.

“The few players that I spoke to were keen to get home to their families, which is natural, rather than being idling in India, but it wasn’t because they weren’t being taken good care of and the hospitality wasn’t great ... it is untrue.

“None of the players and management suggested that the hospitality in India was a problem,” Dr Shallow said.

“I have commended the players because they have managed the situation extremely well. The players were understanding, as much as they wanted to get back home. They were understanding of the situation and knew it wasn’t because of lack of efforts. They handled the situation very maturely.”