India’s tour of South Africa, which was earlier slated to start from 17 December, will now commence on Boxing Day (26 December) with the first Test to be played at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
The change in schedule comes with its own set of tweaks — the four Twenty20 internationals that were part of the itinerary earlier, will now be played sometime later in 2022 — the Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Monday. However, the Tests and the ODIs have the green signal to go ahead.
India are scheduled to play three Tests and three ODIs during the tour.
With South Africa hit by travel restrictions following the discovery of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of coronavirus, CSA announced last week that the tour will be played under strict bio-secure conditions.
India will play Test matches in Centurion, Johannesburg and Cape Town on their tour of South Africa. The second Test will be played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg from 3-7 January with the final Test is scheduled for Newlands in Cape Town from 11-15 January.
The three-Test series will be tailed by an equal number of ODIs. The first two ODIs will be played in Paarl on 19 and 21 January while the third will take place at Newlands on 23 January.
The one-day matches were originally part of the International Cricket Council’s World Cup Super League, but the CSA said in a separate announcement that was no longer the case.
India, after securing a Test and T20 series victory against New Zealand at home, will travel to South Africa by chartered flight and enter the bio-secure accommodation in the Gauteng region for the first two Tests.
They will then travel to Cape Town for the remaining fixtures.
It was announced last week the tour would be delayed and shortened because of the coronavirus situation.
The discovery of the Omicron variant led to travel bans to and from South Africa by many countries and also disrupted sports fixtures, including a tour by the Netherlands cricket team which was cut short after the first of three one-day matches.
But South Africa praised India for their “solidarity” in continuing with an ongoing three-match four-day series between the A teams of the two countries, currently being played in Bloemfontein, and for standing by their commitment to the Test tour.
Fixtures:
26-30 December, 1st Test, Centurion
3-7 January, second Test, Johannesburg
11-15 January, third Test, Cape Town
19 January, first one-day international, Paarl
21 January, second one-day international, Paarl
23 January, third one-day international, Cape Town
With inputs from AFP
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