Confirmed: Final two West Indies vs India T20Is to remain in Florida
India and West Indies have been cleared to travel to the United States of America (USA) for the last two T20Is of the ongoing series to be played in Lauderhill, Florida on Saturday (August 6) and Sunday (August 7) respectively.
After uncertainty lingered over the US Visas for some of the players and staff, Cricket West Indies (CWI) sought help from the Guyana government, and Irfan Ali, the President of Guyana, played his part in helping get the travel approvals.
The #MenInMaroon arrived in Florida during the early hours of this morning!
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) August 3, 2022
WI play India in the 4th and 5th T20I of the @goldmedalindia T20 Cup, presented by Kent Water Purifiers on Saturday and Sunday #WIvIND 🏏🌴 pic.twitter.com/56nyGHiBlt
"It was a timely and influential diplomatic effort by His Excellency," said Ricky Skerritt, the president of Cricket West Indies (CWI), thanking the head of the Guyana government.
14 members from the India contingent didn’t have the travel approvals and were flown to Georgetown in Guyana after the third T20I in St Kitts on Tuesday, August 2 for interviews at the US Embassy, with skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid too, being a part of this group.
Meanwhile, other players including Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, Ravi Bishnoi, Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav have reached Miami, and will be joined by the rest of their teammates on Thursday.
"They can fly only tomorrow afternoon. All Visa applications have been approved but passports are not to be returned until this afternoon," Skerritt said, revealing the reason for the delayed travel. "All that the CWI could do has been done. Last night's charter to Miami, for those previously with visas, was at greater financial risk to delay it than to operate it as previously planned."
Meanwhile, as per a Cricbuzz report, Rohit will be available for the last two games, after having left the field in the second over of India’s chase during the third T20I. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had revealed that the opener suffered back-spasm.
India currently lead the series 2-1.