India's tour of South Africa to be postponed by a week amid Omicron outbreak
India's tour of South Africa to be postponed by a week amid Omicron scare
Guru SaiReporter
Posted - 2021-12-02T13:54:54+06:00
Updated - 2021-12-02T19:13:40+06:00
Highlights
The whole world witnessed the first, second wave of coronavirus pandemic. It has indeed affected the global economy to a massive extent. Meanwhile, all of a sudden, another new variant, the Omicron virus started to spread like wildfire across nations.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that the Omicron virus was identified in 24 countries. Now, the affected nations are quickly taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus.
Although Omicron poses a massive risk of infection, there haven't been omicron-linked deaths as of now, which is indeed a relief for us. Meanwhile, in the recent development, it has been learnt that India's tour of South Africa has been delayed for a week amid the Omicron outbreak.
For the unversed, the India A team is currently touring South Africa as they are involved in the unofficial three-match Test series. Although the BCCI is not withdrawing from that tour, they are looking to postpone the senior team's tour.
The Indian national cricket team was scheduled to travel on December 9 via a charter flight. Now, as per the latest sources, the journey has been put on hold. India's tour of South Africa consists of 3 Tests, 3 ODIs and 4 T20Is.
The recent coronavirus figures issued by the health ministry of the South African government on December 1 identified as many as 8,561 new cases. However, it didn’t mention the total number of infections from the Omicron variant.
Meanwhile, the squads' selection for the South Africa tour has been delayed accordingly. The selection meeting was expected to happen right after India’s first Test against New Zealand.
Since India's apex cricket body is constantly having a word with its South African counterpart, it has been learnt that it is best to hold the selection meeting after having complete clarity about the future ahead.
Back in September, Team India refused to play the 5th Test against England in Manchester in the wake of a Covid outbreak in the camp.