The Men in Blue are set to play against West Indies for a three-match ODI series and a 5-match T20I series. And it has now been revealed that the Indian Cricket Board has spent around 3.5 crores to arrange a chartered flight. Before reaching the West Indies, the Indian team were in England for an ODI and T20I series.
The Indian Cricket Board, reportedly, booked a chartered flight for its players to travel to West India directly from England. The official of the Indian Cricket Board revealed to the Times of India that a commercial flight would have cost only 2 crores. But he added that a chartered flight was the more logical option to take.
“Normally, in a commercial flight, this expense would’ve been around Rs 2 crore. A business class ticket from Manchester to Port of Spain would be around Rs 2 lakh. A chartered flight is more expensive, but it’s a logical option to take,” the official said.
He agreed that most football teams do the same for their players. And he revealed that the reason was not covid but the number of contingents including players’ wives.
“The reason a chartered flight was booked for the team was not Covid-19. It’s difficult to book so many tickets on a commercial flight-the Indian contingent includes 16 players and members of the support staff, including head coach Rahul Dravid. There are players’ wives who have traveled to the Caribbean too,” the official of the Indian Cricket Board added. The players alone add for 16 members and that excludes their wives.
The official said that some of the players have taken their wives with them too and thus the Indian Cricket Board had to opt for a chartered flight. The Indian Cricket Team will be looking forward to win the ODI series under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan. Prominent batter, Virat Kohli has been rested for the West Indies tour. Skipper, Rohit Sharma will mark his return in the T20 international series.
The pace spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah has also been rested for the entire West Indies series alongside Virat Kohli. In the absence of Bumrah, the likes of Prasidh Krishna, Siraj and Avesh Khan would look to make an impact.
