India’s tour of South Africa is now in danger!

After a new variant of Covid-19 has been identified in South Africa, India’s tour to the rainbow nation may just get hampered because of that. The team was supposed to leave India by 8th or 9th December but now the Indian board is monitoring this situation closely and will only take a call a day or two before the team leaves for Africa.

Team India is supposed to play three tests, three One Day Internationals and four T20I’s in different parts of the subcontinent and that is very likely to change. Even if the team travels, what will be the quarantine measures and whether or not the players will be comfortable or not is a very big question.

"Initially, there was no provision for hard quarantine but obviously the players will remain in a bio-bubble. Now with cases rising in South Africa and the European Union also cancelling flights temporarily, we need to factor in these aspects," a senior BCCI source told PTI.

Whether the vaccine will work on the new variant is a big question. Scientists believe that it might not and that makes the new variant a very dangerous one. Even if the board allows the team to travel, the players may have to be in hard quarantine that can last even a week, as we have previously seen. The biggest discussion will be whether the players will be comfortable or not!

Here is the entire schedule of the long awaited South Africa tour –

1st Test: Dec 17-21: Wanderers, Johannesburg

2nd Test: Dec 26-30: SuperSport Park, Centurion

3rd Test: Jan 3-7: Newlands, Cape Town

1st ODI: Jan 11:  Boland Park, Paarl

2nd ODI: Jan 14: Newlands, Cape Town

3rd ODI:  Jan 16: Newlands, Cape Town

1st T20I: Jan 19: Newlands, Cape Town

2nd T20I: Jan 21: Newlands, Cape Town

3rd T20I: Jan 23: Boland Park, Paarl

4th T20I: Jan 26: Boland Park, Paarl