Team India chartered flight to West Indies cost THIS whopping amount

Team India took a chartered flight to the West Indies from United Kingdom. According to reports, the BCCI spent Rs 3.5 crores for organising this chartered flight.

Shubman Gill with Ishan Kishan on a chartered flight to the West Indies. (Source: Twitter)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organized for a chartered flight for the Team India cricketers to travel from the United Kingdom to the West Indies for a limited-overs series starting on Friday (July 22) with the first ODI. The flight cost the BCCI around Rs 3.5 crore to organize, according to media reports.

Team India will play three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies with Shikhar Dhawan leading the ODI side. “The BCCI spent Rs 3.5 crore on the chartered flight which took Team India from Manchester on Tuesday afternoon to Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad and Tobago) by 11.30 pm IST. The reason a chartered flight was booked for the team was not Covid-19. It's difficult to book so many tickets in 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 travelled to the Caribbean too,” a Times of India newspaper report said.

Journey to the Caribbean islands @yuzi_chahal #BCCI #TeamIndia #st54 pic.twitter.com/Ig20ZPnPvh — Shardul Thakur (@imShard) July 19, 2022

“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. Most top football teams have a charter now,” the report added.

Team India arrived in Trinidad on Wednesday (July 20) ahead of their white-ball series against West Indies, which is scheduled to start from Friday (July 22). Shikhar Dhawan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shreyas Iyer, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Siraj were some of the players seen at the airport along with the rest of the squad. “Trinidad - WE ARE HERE! #TeamIndia | #WIvIND," tweeted BCCI.

The five-match T20I series will start on July 29 and will conclude on August 7. India has announced their squad for both ODI and T20I series. Senior players like Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are missing from both squads.

India’s squad for three ODIs: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

India’s squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.