The new strain of Coronavirus has put India’s upcoming tour of South Africa in jeopardy, but BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday (November 30) confirmed that the series is on as of now and they’re keeping a close watch on the situation.
A new variant of COVID-19, called Omicron, has been identified in South Africa and the World Health Organization (WHO) has already declared it to be "of concern."
“The tour is on as things stand till now. We still have time to decide. The first Test is scheduled from December 17. We will ponder about it,” Ganguly told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event.
“Players’ security and health has always been BCCI’s first priority, we will do everything possible for this. We will see what happens in the days to come.”
The Indian senior men’s team is due to travel to South Africa for three Tests, three ODIs, and four T20Is. The tour is slated to be held from December 17 to January 26 while the touring party is due to land in the rainbow nation by December 9.
Ganguly also backed all-rounder Hardik Pandya to regain his place in the side after regaining his full fitness.
“He is a good cricketer. He’s not fit, that’s why he’s not there in the team. He’s young, I hope he makes a comeback after recovering from his injury.”
Last week, the legendary Kapil Dev questioned Hardik’s tag of a multi-skilled cricketer, saying the latter needs to do both batting and bowling to be termed as an all-rounder.
Notably, Pandya has barely bowled in competitive cricket lately. During the recently held T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE, where India failed to qualify to the semi-final, he bowled in just two matches and failed to take a wicket.
“Don’t compare him (Hardik) with Kapil Dev. He belonged to a different league,” Ganguly concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
