India's tour of South Africa may get postponed amidst fears of Omicron variant of Covid-19 virus as The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked Cricket South Africa (CSA) to push the start of the South Africa vs India series by a week. The news comes with Covid cases on the rise after the outbreak of the Omicron variant in South Africa. It now remains to be seen how the CSA responds as clouds of uncertainty continue to cast a shadow on the tour.
The news comes just days after the Netherlands canceled their series against South Africa. The African nation has been on the red list of multiple countries after a new variant of the Covid-19 was found. The BCCI has taken a wait-and-watch approach until now but has now decided to step into the matter. A close source of BCCI has disclosed the news to Sports Tak as India is all set to tour the pandemic hit nation.
After the Netherlands series was postponed it was feared that India might cancel the tour. There were even speculations that a neutral venue could be used to accommodate the series. But now that BCCI has taken the first initiative it remains to be seen how the CSA responds. It is worth noting that India's A-side is currently in the red alerted nation and is involved in its second unofficial Test match.
Earlier the South Africa government had thanked BCCI for not canceling the tour. India team was due to tour South Africa on December 8 with the first Test match taking place on December 17 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. There could yet be many more twists to follow as talks are still underway between the two nations. India plays three Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is in the tour which also includes a Boxing Day Test in Centurion.
India’s tour of South Africa
Test Series
1st Test, 17 Dec 2021 at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
2nd Test, 26 Dec 2021 at SuperSport Park, Centurion
3rd Test, 3 Jan 2022 at Newlands, Cape Town
ODI Series
1st ODI, 11 Jan 2022 at Boland Park, Paarl
2nd ODI, 14 Jan 2022 at Newlands, Cape Town
3rd ODI, 16 Jan 2022 at Newlands, Cape Town
T20I Series
1st T20I, 19 Jan 2022 at Newlands, Cape Town
2nd T20I, 21 Jan 2022 at Newlands, Cape Town
3rd T20I, 23 Jan 2022 at Boland Park, Paarl
4th T20I 26 Jan 2022 at Boland Park, Paarl
