The Covid-19 epidemic has once again proved to be a hindrance in the cricket world. A new strain of coronavirus (Covid-19 Omicron variant) named Omicron is spreading in South Africa and other countries as well. As a result, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman's cricket teams have returned to their respective countries. Along with this, various countries had also imposed travel restrictions on the people of South Africa and due to this, now the matches of Cricket World Cup (CWC) League 2 have also been postponed.
The UAE has announced the cancellation of all flights originating from South Africa and also has several restrictions on entry for passengers coming from countries such as Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Eswatini, and Botswana. In such a situation, Oman and UAE cricket teams have returned home on the same chartered flight. Meanwhile, the Netherlands team is still in South Africa and waiting to return to their homeland.
Oman and Namibia faced each other in 2 matches on 26 and 27 November 2021 respectively. Namibia's team won the first match by defeating their opponent by 40 runs. Oman made a comeback in the second ODI and defeated the Namibian team by a narrow margin of 9 runs. These games are part of the CWC League 2, which should end before the 2023 World Cup Qualifier tournament. But it seems that due to the postponement of matches due to Covid-19, the league will not be completed before the scheduled time.
The ODI series between South Africa and the Netherlands was also forced to be postponed after the arrival of the new Covid-19 variant. Of the 3 scheduled matches between the two sides, only one was completed. On the other hand, amid the threat of new variants of the coronavirus, the India A team will play South Africa in the second unofficial Test starting on Tuesday (November 30), then the players trying to make a place in the senior team would like to leave an impression of their performance.
India tour may be canceled if the situation worsens
The first four-day Test was drawn last week due to bad weather. Meanwhile, due to the new variant of Corona, Omicron, many countries have banned travel from South Africa. For this reason, the Netherlands decided not to play the last two ODIs to be held in Johannesburg. The India A team, however, has stayed here in the bio bubble. The matches are being played without spectators and the senior India team is also coming here on a seven-week tour on December 9. However, if the situation worsens, the tour can be canceled in which three Tests, three ODIs, and four T20 matches are to be played.
