Stranded West Indies and South Africa teams to leave India on Tuesday

Kolkata, Mar 9 (PTI) The stranded West Indies and South Africa squads will leave India on Tuesday on a shared charter flight to Johannesburg following their exits from the T20 World Cup.

From Johannesburg, the West Indies squad will continue to Antigua.

This shared flight was arranged after both teams were stranded in India for several days due to international airspace restrictions amid the conflict in the Middle East.

The number of players currently remaining in India are 12 from the West Indies plus 10 support staff and 12 from South Africa plus two support staff.

The flight will depart for Johannesburg at 2.30pm on Tuesday.

Also it was learned earlier that West Indies coach Darren Sammy is expected to leave tonight via Singapore and three other players via a different route.

Three South African players -- Keshav Maharaj, George Linde and Jason Smith -- have already left for New Zealand for a bilateral series, which includes five T20Is starting March 15.

The change in travel plans was caused by airspaces closure in West Asia following the American and Israeli strikes on Iran.

The West Indies team is stranded in Kolkata since losing to India in its last Super Eights match here on March 1, while South Africa could not leave after their defeat to New Zealand in the semi-final on March 4 at Eden Gardens. PTI SSC SSC APS APS AH AH AH