'BCCI are committed, the tour is definitely on' - CSA confident of hosting India despite emergence of new Covid-19 variant

Even as the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus has been spreading rampantly in the African nations, Cricket South Africa (CSA) are confident about hosting India for the upcoming all-format series comprising three Tests, as many ODIs and four T20Is in December and January.

India’s A team is currently in Bloemfontein for three unofficial Tests, of which one has been concluded. While the cancellation of the Women’s World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe and the postponement of two ODIs against the Netherlands does not present a bright picture, CSA’s acting chief executive officer Pholetsi Moseki is hopeful that the series against India will go as per plans as both the boards are monitoring the situation closely.

“We spoke to the BCCI and they are very much committed to the tour,” Moseki was quoted as saying by thesouthafrican.com on November 28.

“India A is still in the country and there isn’t a sign of them leaving. They’re still committed and they’re expecting the tour to go ahead,” he said. “The tour is definitely still on and there’s no reason for it not to go on unless we’re blindsided by something we’re not expecting.

“The question that remains is whether fans will be allowed in. We’ve been angling to have more fans in the stadiums. With the way things are panning out, I guess the only thing we can do now is to wait on the government and see what happens. We hope we don’t get to a state where there is a total shutdown,” he added.

Moseki also sounded confident that CSA will be able to have the required bio-secure arrangements for the tour. “Our bio-bubbles are very strong because you need to remember the England one that ended up being a disaster.”

“We jacked up our bio-bubbles after that and the spectator matter is something that’s not in our control. Once we are sorted with the Netherlands matter, we’ll communicate further with the tour to show that there is a commitment for the tour to take place. We can play without spectators in the same way we did against Pakistan and Sri Lanka because the government knows we prepare strong bio-bubbles,” he added.