Final batch of South African, West Indian players leave India amid chaos due to West Asia conflict

In a relief to South African and West Indian cricket players who were stranded in India due to the ongoing West Asian crisis, the final batch departed Kolkata on Thursday, the ICC announced.

The war upset travel plans of the two teams as airspace and airports at major transit points like Dubai were shut indefinitely.

The West Indies and South Africa had an extended stay in India after having played their last T20 World Cup matches in Kolkata on March 1 and March 4 respectively.

Earlier in the week, nine West Indies players had departed. However, the remaining 16 members, including the support staff were booked on commercial flights for Thursday. A 29-member Proteas contingent has also left Indian shores.

"Within the past 24 hours, South Africa's remaining 29 members and the West Indies’ final 16 members have departed on flights to their respective homelands, bringing to a close a complex operation that has taken place under exceptionally challenging global travel conditions," the ICC said.

ICC added that ensuring the "safe onward travel for all players and staff was the sole aim", which required constant adjustments as conditions evolved.

"Throughout this period, the ICC's operations and logistics teams have worked continuously with governments, airlines, charter providers, airport authorities and our Member boards to navigate a number of operational disruptions caused by the evolving environment."

The ICC was criticised by former England captain Michael Vaughan and South African players Quinton de Kock and David Miller, who said that England players were given better travel arrangements even though they flew later as they were able to leave within a day of their semifinal exit.

Earlier, West Indies head coach Darren Sammy was also frustrated at the lack of updates from the governing body after a charter flight scheduled to depart from Kolkata was cancelled due to logistical issues.

The ICC's airline partner Emirates has been unable to operate flights following the shutdown of airspace over Dubai.