India’s tour of South Africa remains in doubt; BCCI awaits government’s approval

Despite the South African government’s assurance for a complete bio-protected environment for the Indian cricket teams, the senior team’s tour remains doubtful. According to TOI, the Indian selection committee announced players for the South Africa tour a day after the Kanpur test got over. After which, the players were supposed to go through a mandatory quarantine period before joining the team bubble.

As for now, the BCCI’s selection committee members have not called for a meeting to decide the team, which keeps players like Shardul Thakur, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and KL Rahul from joining the team. They were rested for New Zealand’s tour.

It is understood that this decision comes after the wake of the Omicron variant of the Corona Virus in south Africa. The foreign ministry of South Africa, in a statement yesterday, appreciated India’s solidarity for not canceling the India A tour and assured them of the safety of the players.

A report from TOI says, “BCCI is awaiting the nod from the central government. Things will be clean in a couple of days. The players too need to be assured of the arrangement. The board doesn’t want a repeat of what happened in Manchester.”

Currently, the India A side is playing their second unofficial test against their South African counterpart. The senior team’s three-match test series is due to begin on the 17th of December.