The Indian team is going to visit South Africa (India vs South Africa) on December 9, but now only one week is left, neither the selectors have met nor the team has been selected nor announced for the tour. Has been done. The reason is, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not yet received approval from the Government of India for the tour. For this reason, the meeting of the selection committee has been stalled till now. South Africa has been identified as a 'country at risk' after the emergence of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.
The Indian government has not yet approved the South African tour and BCCI is still waiting for the nod. Till this is not clear, the Indian team cannot leave for South Africa. The selection committee meeting was planned after the first Test between India and New Zealand played in Kanpur, but now if approved by the government, the selectors will meet during the second Test in Mumbai. Just a few days ago, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had said that the BCCI should take permission from the Government of India before giving a green signal to South Africa's tour of India.
Sports Minister had said – BCCI should take permission from the government
He had said, "In such a situation, every board, whether it is BCCI or any other, should take permission from the Government of India. The government will decide on receiving applications from them (BCCI)." According to Inside Sports, some members of the Indian Test team were also unsure about the tour's schedule. Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, and other Test candidates were earlier asked to report to Mumbai for a short camp before flying to South Africa on December 8 or 9, but now They are unaware of the situation.
Sourav Ganguly said - it's time to take a decision
Meanwhile, the BCCI President and other officials are still confident that the tour is going on as per the schedule. Sourav Ganguly said on Tuesday that the tour of India is on schedule and he is closely monitoring the situation after the arrival of the new Kovid-19 variant. He said, “The tour is on as things are stable as of now. We still have time to decide. The first test is to be held from December 17. We will look into it." He said, “The safety and health of the players have always been the priority of the BCCI. For this, we will make every effort. We will see what happens in the coming days.” India has to play three Test matches, three ODIs, and four T20 matches on the South African tour.
Shardul Thakur will not go to South Africa to play India A tour match
Meanwhile, as the approval from the government is pending, the BCCI has already scrapped the plan to send fast bowler Shardul Thakur to play for India A. Shardul Thakur was supposed to take off on December 1 but was informed on Wednesday that his journey would not go ahead, instead of being asked to join the senior team camp in Mumbai. Thakur was to play the last four-day match against South Africa A in Bloemfontein from 6 December.
