Andhra Ranji squad in spot of bother after missing flight

A 25-member Andhra Ranji cricket team today found themselves on a sticky wicket after missing its flight to Lucknow, which took off from here more than an hour ahead of schedule because of "bad weather".
However their plight was somewhat reduced after the private flight operator arranged a 9.45am flight via Delhi tomorrow morning and also arranged an accommodation in the national capital.
The Andhra team were to board IndiGo flight number 6E 856 which was originally scheduled at 5.25 but foggy conditions and poor visibility in Lucknow meant it took off at 4.10pm.
"The weather condition for the last four days is not permitting us to land the flight in Lucknow after 7.30pm because of poor visibility due to dense fog. Either the flights are diverted to Mumbai or cancelled," an IndiGo official told PTI.

"However we are arranging their accommodation and will arrange a morning flight tomorrow," he added.
The team was travelling from Dhanbad where they lost to Goa by 34 runs in the Group C fixture that got over inside three days yesterday and their next stop is Lucknow where they face Hyderabad in a crucial Ranji fixture from December 7-10.

They were travelling by the Shbad Bhedi Superfast Express to Kolkata Chitpur Station, and to make matters worse the train reached after a delay of one and half hours (2.45pm).
"We had connectivity issues during the transit and got to learn about the change in flight schedule only at 2pm -- it was too late by then," Andhra Ranji coach Sanath Kumar told PTI.

"By the time we reached the airport, the flight had taken off and we were told that the only other flight today -- at 5.45pm -- was cancelled. We have luggage weighing about 950kgs and the boys are feeling like zombies. However it's sorted now and we are set to fly out via Delhi tomorrow morning," he said.
Critical of the neutral venue format, the coach further said: "The accessibility and the infrastructure are big problems with this. We have to sort this out first. Like in Dhanbad, the wicket was pathetic and was a square turner."
Hyderabad (29) lead the Group C table, four points clear of Andhra who are in contention for the quarterfinal berth.