India to tour South Africa for 3 Tests and 3 ODIs, T20Is to be played later: BCCI Secretary

India tour of South Africa 2021: Team India will tour South Africa for three tests and three ODIs as per schedule, confirmed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah on December 4, 2021. 

The four T20Is, which were also originally a part of the tour, have been postponed and will now be played on a later date, the BCCI Secretary informed. The news comes in the wake of detection of the new Omicron COVID variant in South Africa, which has now been reported in several other countries across the globe including India. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) were in constant touch over the same. There were reports earlier of the two sides discussing to push back the India South Africa 2021 series by a week due to the threat of Omicron. It is now confirmed that India will be heading to South Africa to play the scheduled 3 tests and ODIs, while the T20Is, which were to be held in January 2022 have been postponed. 

Read more: What do we know about new COVID variant Omicron?

India tour of South Africa 2021 schedule

Team India is scheduled to travel to South Africa later this month to play three Tests, three ODIs and four T20 Internationals. The India tour of South Africa 2021 is scheduled to begin on December 17th.

India's tour of South Africa Dates

India vs South Africa 2021- 2022 Test Schedule

First India vs South Africa test- December 17-21

Second India vs South Africa test- December 26-30

Third India vs South Africa test- January 3-7

India vs South Africa 2022 ODI Schedule

First India vs South Africa ODI- January 11th

Second India vs South Africa ODI- January 14th

Third India vs South Africa ODI- January 16th

India vs South Africa 2022 T20 Schedule

India vs South Africa, 1st T20I -January 19th

India vs South Africa, 2nd T20I- January 21st

India vs South Africa, 3rd T20I- January 23rd

India vs South Africa, 4th T20I- January 26th

Background

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529 as Omicron. The variant was first identified in South Africa. WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on December 1, 2021 that at least 23 countries from five of six WHO regions have now reported cases of Omicron and the number is expected to go up further. 

Read more: Omicron Variant of COVID: High Risk Countries List Released by India 

Read more: What is S-Gene- How will it confirm the presence of Omicron COVID-19 variant?