Indian team members may be stranded in Barbados for several days as the Caribbean country braces for the “extremely dangerous” Hurricane Beryl. Rohit Sharma and his men won the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup on Saturday (June 29) by beating South Africa in the final in Barbados.
Hurricane Beryl reportedly intensified into a Category 3 storm on Sunday morning, just hours after India’s victory in the T20 World Cup final. Winds reached 120 miles per hour on Sunday morning and the storm is expected to continue strengthening throughout the day.
The New York Times has reported that Beryl is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to the Windward Islands, southeast of Puerto Rico and northern Venezuela. At 8:30 pm (IST), Beryl was about 355 miles east-southeast of Barbados and the situation could worsen in the coming hours.
Update: Sunday 11:35am AST: Reconnaissance aircraft found #Beryl It has strengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane with maximum winds of 130 mph. Life-threatening winds and storm surge are expected in the Windward Islands beginning early Monday morning. The latest in… pic.twitter.com/CUNFkVl8Iv
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) June 30, 2024
In a situation like this, it is highly unlikely that the Indian team members will be able to leave the island. On Sunday, Aaj Tak’s Vikrant Gupta gave an update on the situation and said everyone is stuck in Barbados for the moment.
As for X, Gupta said flights are already being canceled and the airport will close soon. He also said that the Indian team will also be stuck on the island and will be able to leave only when the situation improves.
“Hurricane Beryl will hit Barbados tonight or early Monday morning. Landfall will be severe. Barbados airport will be closed and flights will be cancelled. Even the Indian team will be stuck here until the hurricane subsides and the airport reopens. We are stuck here too. All outbound flights are being cancelled,” Gupta wrote on X.
Hurricane Beryl will hit Barbados tonight or early Monday morning. The landfall is going to be severe. Barbados airport will be closed and flights will be cancelled. Even the Indian team will be stuck here until the hurricane subsides and the airport reopens.
We are stuck…—Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) June 30, 2024
The historic triumph of the Indian team:
Talking about the final, India beat South Africa by 7 runs to secure the T20 World Cup trophy for the second time and first since 2007. India became the third team after the West Indies and England to win the tournament twice.
Batting first, India recovered from 34 for 3 to reach 176/7. Virat Kohli was India’s top scorer with 76 runs while Axar Patel also played a crucial role by scoring 47 runs. In response, South Africa finished their innings at 169/8 despite being 151/4 after 16 overs.
India’s next assignment is a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe next month. The selectors have named a second squad for the tour and only three members of the World Cup squad will feature in the series. The players are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube.
