KKR players were forced to land in Varanasi ahead of MI clash, due to poor weather conditions in Kolkata.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) cricket team had a night to remember, but not for the reasons they might have hoped. After their big win over the Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday, the team’s flight back to Kolkata on Monday evening turned into a travel nightmare due to severe weather.
The KKR chartered flight was scheduled to land in Kolkata at 7:25 pm, but heavy rain and thunderstorms forced the pilots to divert the plane to Guwahati first. At 8:46 pm, KKR’s media team announced their chartered flight was diverted to Guwahati due to “inclement weather over Kolkata.” They landed safely, with hopes of resuming their journey soon.
However, the ordeal was far from over. Just an hour later, another update arrived from the team that said, “We’ve got clearance to fly back to Kolkata now, from Guwahati. Estimated arrival-11 pm.” Despite these hopeful words, fate had other plans. Multiple landing attempts in Kolkata proved unsuccessful, forcing the officials to make a final mid-air diversion to Varanasi.
An update at 1:20 am confirmed, “Update at 1:20 AM: Flight diverted to Varanasi after another failed attempt at landing in Kolkata due to bad weather. Current status: At the Lal Bahadur Shastri International airport.”
ALSO READ | Matheesha Pathirana Hints His Exit From the CSK Camp For the Rest of IPL 2024
After almost 1.5 hours of waiting, the team management finally gave an update of relief on X. “Update at 3:00 AM: KKR team would be checking into Varanasi hotel for overnight stay. Return flight to Kolkata TBD on Tuesday (7 May) afternoon,” the KKR media team said in the final update at 3:00 am.
Fortunately, this unexpected detour will not affect KKR’s next match schedule. Their next game is against the Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 11th.
Last Updated on May 7, 2024