The Kolkata Knight Riders arrived at their destination in just around 24 hours, including a night stop in Varanasi. The flight from Lucknow to Kolkata takes about 100 minutes. Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR, stated, “Our manager and logistics team did a tremendous job.”
The squall that hit Kolkata on Monday night prevented the plane from landing at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, which resulted in the delay and diversion. Knight Riders’ aircraft, which had taken departure in Lucknow at approximately 5:45 p.m. on Monday, had to be rerouted to Guwahati due to weather-related disruptions.
The chartered flight, which had departed Guwahati at approximately 11 PM for Kolkata, was instead routed to Varanasi, where it touched down at about 1.15 AM. Nearly 24 hours later, on Tuesday at around 5 p.m., the players arrived in Kolkata following a night’s stopover in the sacred city and a visit to the Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple by a couple of them.
“The mood in the camp is fine and we have a game only on May 11, so the extra travel was not a major stress,” according to a team representative. With 11 games played and 16 points, the Knight Riders have virtually guaranteed themselves a spot in the postseason.
They then take on the Mumbai Indians before taking a plane to Ahmedabad on May 13 to play the Gujarat Titans away. On May 19, they play their final league match in Guwahati against the Rajasthan Royals.
