Former India opener Aakash Chopra has criticized the scheduling of India’s tour of South Africa after board the cricket board- CSA and BCCI- decided to omit the T20Is from the itinerary due to delay in the start of the series.
Originally, India was supposed to play three Tests, three ODIs, and four T20Is in South Africa, but thanks to the new COVID variant Omicron wreaking havoc in South Africa, the BCCI delayed the tour by a week.
This led to the postponement of the four T20Is to a later date, as it was agreed that India and South Africa will only play three Tests and three ODIs on the tour.
Aakash Chopra opined that instead of removing the T20Is, the 50-over series should have been postponed given that India needed game time in T20Is ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
SA v IND 2021-22: South Africa pacer Anrich Nortje ruled out of India Test series
Speaking on his YouTube Channel, Chopra said, "I am with you that the T20Is shouldn't have been cancelled. There were equal number of games - three ODIs and three T20Is. So you could have played the T20Is and not played the ODIs.
But then, I don't know what the permutations and combinations are because the T20 World Cup is there again next year and the ODI World Cup is after another one year. So the more T20s you play now, the better it is."
However, Chopra felt that the ODI Super League and the fact that these ODIs were needed by South Africa to have a chance to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, which will be played in India, led to the ODI series going forward as scheduled.
"I anyway believe there is no advantage of a bilateral ODI series. But you also need to keep in mind that there is a super league, where you get points. If you don't get points, you won't qualify. India's qualification is certain as hosts but the others need to qualify. So that could be a consideration," said Chopra.
After the three-match Test series, the two sides play 3 ODIs on January 19, 21, and 23 respectively. The first two matches of the series will take place in Paarl while the series decider is set to take place in Cape Town.
