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The Indian men’s cricket team, who celebrated victory in the T20 World Cup 2024 final on Saturday, are stranded in Barbados due to the effects of Hurricane Beryl.
Category 3 hurricane Beryl is expected to pass through Barbados on Monday, with its centre about 128 kilometres off the southern coast.
The National Hurricane Center said Monday morning that “Beryl remains an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane,” but had weakened to a Category 3 by Monday morning.
“Across the hurricane warning area and in the areas of land inflow near the eye of the hurricane, a life-threatening storm surge could cause water levels to rise six to nine feet above normal tides,” it added.
Winds of up to 130 mph are expected as Hurricane Beryl moves westward.
Hurricane warnings have also been issued for Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.
The Indian men’s team was scheduled to return home on a chartered flight but could not do so as the airport has been closed since Sunday evening.
“Like all of you, we are stuck here and we will think about celebrations once we have clarity on travel plans,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary general Jay Shah told reporters in Barbados.
On Sunday, India finally ended their 12-year-long losing streak and beat South Africa in the T20 World Cup.
This is India’s fourth World Cup victory after 1983, 2007 and 2011, while they were runners-up in 2003, 2014 and 2023.
“We want India to win all the titles. We have the strongest line-up and only three players from this squad will go to Zimbabwe. We can have a third team if required,” captain Rohit Sharma said after the match.
At the post-match presentation, Sharma, 37, and Virat Kohli, 35, both announced their retirement from the format.
The duo are the two leading run-scorers in the history of T20 internationals, both with over 4,000 runs each, and they walked out the stage moments after sharing the victory.
Kohli top-scored with 76 off 59 balls in a match against the Proteas in Barbados to win by seven runs, while Sharma finally lifted the trophy he first won as a young player in 2007.