Fresh date for South Africa tour; new-age cap for officials & support staff, among 8 pointers discussed at BCCI AGM

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that the men's cricket team will tour South Africa later this month, despite the threat of the new Covid-19 variant.

The fate of the tour to the rainbow nation was decided by the board during its Annual General Meeting held in Kolkata on Saturday (December 04).

India was originally scheduled to play three Tests, three one-day internationals and four T20Is.

However, in the wake of the ongoing Covid wave in South Africa, it has been decided that the visitors will play three Tests and as many ODIs only. The T20I series will be scheduled at some point next year.

A statement released by the BCCI said:

"India’s tour of South Africa, 2021-22, will proceed with the revised dates and itinerary. The team will participate in a three-match Test series followed by a three-match ODI series starting December 26th, 2021."

Among other decisions taken by the BCCI during the 90th AGM includes:

1] Brijesh Patel and MKJ Majumdar have been inducted as two representatives in the IPL Governing Council.

2] Pragyan Ojha has been inducted as Indian Cricketers Association representative in the IPL Governing Council.

3] The Annual Budget for the financial year 2021/22 was adopted by the General Body. Audited accounts for FY 2019/20 and 2020/21 have also been adopted by the General Body.

4] The BCCI also announced the structure of the Tours, Fixture and Techincal Committee, Umpires Committee and differently-abled Cricket Committee.

5] The Age Limit of Match officials and support staff has been increased from 60 to 65 years.

6] The infrastructure development of North-East states, Puducherry, Bihar and Uttarakhand will be initiated by the board.

India will kickstart the South African tour with Boxing Day Test as per BCCI

With regards to the South African tour, it was slated to kickstart at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on December 17. But it has now been pushed back by a week. The first Test will now take place on Boxing Day.

Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa has stated that it will confirm the venues for the revised schedule in the next 48 hours.

Earlier, the Indian contingent was scheduled to depart for South Africa via a chartered flight on December 09 but now the travel plans have been changed. This is the prime reason why the Test series will no longer start on December 17.

The news of India confirming their commitment comes as a huge sigh of relief for Cricket South Africa. With a new Covid variant in Omicron triggering a new wave in the African nation, clouds of uncertainty hovered around the marquee series.

CSA are already grappling with massive financial losses due to the cancelation of the white-ball series by England late last year and Australia pulling out of the Test series back in March.

Had the Indian series got canceled, it would have been a massive disaster for the Cricket body in the African country.

This is not the first time that the BCCI are coming to the rescue of cricket boards around the world. Last winter, the Indian team traveled Down Under for a full series despite Covid being at the peak of its powers.

Then, earlier this year, India sent a second-string team to Sri Lanka to feature in three ODIs and as many T20Is when the main side was in the UK.

As far as Team India is concerned, a golden opportunity to win their maiden Test series in South Africa beckons for the Virat Kohli-led unit this winter.