The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli has finally opened up about the future of upcoming India vs South Africa series. The much-awaited India’s tour to South Africa has been hit by uncertainties due to a threat of the new COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Team India is slated to tour South Africa next month for the 3 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 4 T20I series. The tour is scheduled to kickstart on December 17th. However, since a new COVID-19 variant has emerged out in the host country, the future of the tour looks uncertain.
If reports are to be believed that the entire tour might get postponed by a week as the BCCI has asked the Cricket South Africa (CSA) to push it back as it seeks more time to discuss the threat of the new Covid variant Omicron.
on Thursday, during the pre-match conference ahead of the second Test match, Virat Kohli said that team India and the BCCI have been in constant touch regarding their upcoming tour of South Africa but a final decision will be taken in a couple of days’ time.
He said while everyone is working hard to find clarity over the upcoming tour but the team is currently focusing on the second Test match against New Zealand, which will get underway from Friday. He said:
“We’ve been talking to the board and we are pretty confident within a day or two or pretty soon we’ll have absolute clarity as to what is going on. But yeah, look, we need to be realistic about things as well. We cannot just ignore the things that potentially could put you in a confusing place and no one wants to be there.
He added:
So I’m sure everyone’s working hard towards finding clarity and giving us the situation as it unfolds as soon as possible. And we all are hopeful that will happen soon,”
The BCCI is in constant touch with the government of India and CSA over the future of the upcoming tour to South Africa. BCCI wants to wait and watch how the Omicron threat will develop over the next few days. Virat also added that the side is hopeful that things will get clear soon. He said:
“We’re not playing in normal times anyways. So there’s a lot of planning that’s involved. There’s a lot of preparation that’s involved in terms of understanding exactly what’s going on. There are players who are not part of the group right now who will be entering quarantine to join the team in the bubble to fly in a charter (aircraft) those kinds of things. You want to seek clarity as soon as possible,”
Meanwhile, India A players are currently in Bloemfontein for the ongoing series against South Africa A.
