File photo of Indian cricket team
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday confirmed that the India tour of South Africa will begin from December 26. The tour of South Africa was one of the eight decisions taken by the BCCI in its 90th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Kolkata.
"Indi'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," read the BCCI's statement in decisions made at the AGM.
It comes after Cricket South Africa (CSA) said a couple of hours ago that the tour of India will go ahead as planned, clearing the air of uncertainty caused by the new Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. The four T20Is will not be a part of the tour and will be rescheduled for next year. CSA also said that the venues for the tour will be announced in the next 48 hours.
Amongst other key decisions taken by the BCCI in the AGM were the re-induction of Brijesh Patel and M Khairul Jamal Majumdar as representatives in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council while including former India spinner Pragyan Ojha as the representative of the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) in the IPL Governing Council. It also announced the decision to form the Tours, Fixtures and Technical Committee, Umpires Committee and Differently Abled Cricket Committee.
The BCCI has also increased the Age Limit of Match Officials and Support Staff to 65 from 60 years, subject to their fitness. It has also taken the decision to initiate infrastructure development of the North-Eastern States, Puducherry, Bihar and Uttarakhand. The general body also adopted the "Annual Budget of FY 2021-22 apart from the audited accounts for FY 2019-20 and 2020-21".
