India’s tour of South Africa has been given the go-ahead by the two boards, but only for the three Tests and three ODIs as part of a rejigged tour. The four T20Is that were also part of the original schedule will be played later. A CSA release on Saturday morning local time further said the dates and venues for the tour were set to change as the Indian team’s arrival in South Africa, originally scheduled for December 8 or 9, had been delayed by a week.
As per the original schedule, the Tests were to start on December 17, 26 and January 3 in Johannesburg, Centurion and Cape Town respectively, followed by the three ODIs on January 11, 14 and 16.There has been a lot of doubt around the tour to South Africa because of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, in the country that has led to a surge in cases and hospitalisations, especially in the Gauteng province where India are scheduled to play the first two Tests.
The Netherlands team had recently cut short their tour of three ODIs after playing the first game in Centurion, before they flew back home as many countries, especially from the European Union, imposed travel restrictions on southern Africa.CSA had also postponed three games of round four of Division 2 four-day matches after some players tested positive. The one-day matches due to take place on December 16 were also pushed back to 2022.The India A team has, however, stayed back for their three four-day games in Bloemfontein. The second of those concluded on Friday and the third is set to begin on Monday.India captain Virat Kohli had said on the eve of the ongoing Test against New Zealand in Mumbai that it was natural for such a tour to involve a lot of planning and preparation.
