India tour of South Africa under the radar following the entrance of new Covid variant in South Africa.
India tour of South Africa: Following the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, India tour of South Africa for all format series has come under the radar and considerable concerns have risen. India is due to visit the Rainbow nation in the coming month for a seven-week long assignment.
South Africa will host India for three Test matches, three ODIs and four T20Is that are scheduled over four venues – Johannesburg, Centurion, Paarl, and Cape Town.
The new covid-19 variant has wreaked havoc in the northern part of South Africa and could be dangerous as per the recent reports. Scientists believe that this new variant (B.1.1.529) is more resistant to the vaccine and is more transmissible.
As the covid outburst is predominantly in the Northern part of South Africa, the officials will have to be extremely careful as both India and South Africa are scheduled to play two test matches in Johannesburg and Pretoria (near Centurion).
There could be some change in the quarantine rules as far as South Africa is concerned. The country may impose a week-long hard quarantine upon the arrival and the teams will remain in bio bubbles.
“Look, till we get a detailed picture of the ground situation from Cricket South Africa (CSA), we will not be able to tell our next step. As per the current plan, the Indian team is supposed to leave either on December 8 or 9 just after the New Zealand series gets over in Mumbai,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on Friday.
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India A is currently touring South Africa for two unofficial test matches series. A PTI official contacted an administrator who is currently with India A squad.
“We didn’t undergo any hard quarantine on arrival over here since we came by charter flight and are staying in a bio-bubble. After the outbreak, a medical team from Cricket South Africa had a meeting with our representatives over here,” said the BCCI administrator who is with India A squad.
“We were told that there is nothing to worry since the spike in cases is far away from Bloemfontein where we would be playing our next match too,” the official said over phone.
India’s tour to South Africa will begin with a test series commencing on December 17th. Following the completion of the longest format series, South Africa and India will lock horns in the ODI series followed by the T20I series.
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