The IndiGo disaster has severely disrupted the journey plans of India’s home cricketers. The non-public airline has cancelled hundreds of flights over the past couple of days on account of a scarcity of pilots after it didn’t plan adequately for brand new guidelines limiting pilots’ work hours.
With the nation’s air journey crippled, most groups that includes within the Underneath-19 Cooch Behar Trophy and U-16 Vijay Service provider Trophy discovered themselves stranded after their flights had been cancelled, leaving gamers caught at airports. With the tournaments set to start on Monday throughout the nation, some State items, together with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Affiliation and the Cricket Affiliation of Bengal, had been compelled to ship their groups to their respective locations by highway.
The Bengal U-19 workforce, scheduled to play Goa in Kalyani from Monday, needed to board a bus from Bhilai within the early hours of Saturday. “We didn’t have a selection. As soon as the flights had been cancelled, we determined to rapidly prepare a bus from Bhilai and produce the workforce to Kalyani. There’s hardly any time for the sport, and that is maybe the one answer we may consider,” Sanjay Das, the treasurer of CAB, instructed Sportstar.
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Particular Association
The Bengal gamers and assist employees left Bhilai, an industrial city in Chhattisgarh, round 1.30 am on Saturday and had been travelling almost 906 kilometres in a luxurious bus by way of Raipur and Sambalpur. Sources indicated that the workforce administration ensured satisfactory stops for breakfast and lunch.
“The boys have performed back-to-back cricket and it has been an extended journey for them, so they’re clearly drained. We’re nonetheless a great distance from Kalyani, and the precedence now could be to succeed in, relaxation up and prepare for the sport,” Bengal coach Sourasish Lahiri instructed Sportstar from Kharagpur at 11.30 pm on Saturday.
The Bengal workforce has been on the highway for greater than 11 hours and continues to be 4 hours away from its vacation spot.
Whereas the U-19 match begins on Monday, the U-16 match is scheduled to start out on Sunday throughout a number of smaller centres. After getting stranded in New Delhi for almost eight hours on Friday, the Jammu and Kashmir U-16 workforce left for Surat in a luxurious bus. The U-23 workforce, which is able to tackle Vidarbha in Nagpur from Monday, needed to take a bus from Jammu in any case flights had been cancelled. The workforce was compelled to undertake a 1,746-kilometre journey and was nonetheless just a few hours away from Nagpur on the time of publishing.
With barely any turnaround time between arrival and matches, a number of State items approached BCCI officers for steering. When contacted, BCCI president Mithun Manhas instructed Sportstar that, holding the scenario in thoughts, the Board has saved a provision to postpone matches by a day if groups arrive late. “It has been a troublesome time by way of logistics, however issues are past anybody’s management. We’re in fixed contact with the State associations, and given the scenario, if the groups attain late, we’ll begin these matches a day later,” Manhas mentioned.
The Bengal workforce has been on the highway for greater than 11 hours and continues to be 4 hours away from its vacation spot.
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Particular Association
The Bengal workforce has been on the highway for greater than 11 hours and continues to be 4 hours away from its vacation spot.
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
“The well being and the protection of the gamers and the assist employees are of utmost significance to us, and holding the gravity of the scenario in thoughts, now we have determined to maintain a buffer for the groups. As soon as they attain their respective locations, the match officers will discuss to them after which resolve on the long run plan of action,” the BCCI president mentioned, including: “Everybody have to be so drained, so this break will assist them to get well, regroup and begin afresh…”
The disruption has taken a bodily and psychological toll on gamers and assist employees, whereas additionally hitting State associations arduous financially, as they’ve needed to pay via their nostril to make alternate preparations.
Again in August, the Gujarat Cricket Affiliation had booked flights from Ahmedabad to Shivamogga for its U-16 workforce, and the airfare was round Rs. 4,500 per particular person. However with flights cancelled, the affiliation needed to shell out Rs. 22,000 to Rs. 27,000 per particular person for alternate tickets. As well as, there have been native transport prices from Bengaluru to Shivamogga, the place the U-16 workforce will probably be enjoying.
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“Over the past couple of days, we needed to make recent bookings for the workforce, and since there was an enormous rush, it wasn’t doable to get tickets on the identical flight, so some went on Air India, some had been accommodated by Akasa Air, and some by IndiGo,” mentioned Anil Patel, the secretary of the GCA.
““The well being and the protection of the gamers and the assist employees are of utmost significance to us, and holding the gravity of the scenario in thoughts, now we have determined to maintain a buffer for the groups. As soon as they attain their respective locations, the match officers will discuss to them after which resolve on the long run plan of action. Everybody have to be so drained, so this break will assist them to get well, regroup and begin afresh…””BCCI PRESIDENT MITHUN MANHAS
En path to Puducherry, the U-19 workforce was additionally caught in Mumbai for a few days earlier than the affiliation may prepare flight tickets to Chennai. “They’re now scheduled to succeed in Chennai round 12 am on Sunday after which take a bus to Puducherry. If there’s no additional delay, the workforce is predicted to succeed in Puducherry round 4 am on Sunday,” Patel mentioned.
Whereas the affiliation was initially considering of requesting the BCCI to reschedule the sport, the gamers insisted they might be prepared for the match on Monday. Nevertheless, with the BCCI deciding to present a ‘buffer’, it could be an enormous enhance for all of the groups.
The disruption has not been restricted to age-group cricket. India worldwide and Gujarat bowler Harshal Patel additionally missed a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recreation towards Baroda final Thursday as his flight to Hyderabad was cancelled. Harshal had come to Ahmedabad to take care of his ailing father and was supposed to go again to Hyderabad on Thursday, however the disruption meant he couldn’t attain on time. Nevertheless, he featured in an SMAT recreation towards Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.
File | Harshal Patel additionally missed a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recreation towards Baroda final Thursday as his flight to Hyderabad was cancelled.
| Picture Credit score:
R. V. Moorthy
File | Harshal Patel additionally missed a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recreation towards Baroda final Thursday as his flight to Hyderabad was cancelled.
| Picture Credit score:
R. V. Moorthy
Whereas entry to metro cities and State capitals has remained comparatively smoother, groups have struggled to succeed in smaller centres like Hazaribagh. On Monday, Jharkhand’s U-19 workforce is ready to play Kerala on the Sanjay Singh Cricket Stadium in Hazaribagh. Whereas the visiting workforce managed to succeed in the vacation spot on Saturday regardless of cancellations, the Jharkhand workforce reached solely late on Saturday night time after an extended and tiring journey.
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Former India cricketer Shahbaz Nadeem, now the joint secretary on the Jharkhand State Cricket Affiliation, mentioned, “We had a recreation in Vadodara, and our unique plan was to fly out the workforce from Vadodara to Ahmedabad after which take a direct flight to Ranchi. As soon as they reached Ranchi, it could have taken 1.5 hours to succeed in Hazaribagh. However plans went haywire…”
The U-19 workforce needed to take a flight from Ahmedabad to Kolkata after which journey by bus to Hazaribagh. “It took them greater than 9 hours to succeed in Hazaribagh from Kolkata. However there was no different possibility, since all flights had been both cancelled or delayed. We couldn’t take any additional dangers,” Nadeem mentioned, including with a sigh of reduction, “Not less than, the gamers have reached safely…”
With greater than 1,000 flights cancelled, most State affiliation officers spent frantic nights understanding alternate journey plans. “It was difficult, however fortunately, we figured issues out,” mentioned Jayanta Dey, the Tripura Cricket Affiliation secretary. The Tripura workforce additionally confronted flight woes, however ultimately reached its vacation spot on time.
Over the following few days, senior groups will journey for the SMAT knockouts, adopted by the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Associations hope the scenario will probably be underneath management by then.
Revealed on Dec 06, 2025