India's Tour of South Africa Dec 21 - Jan 22

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

India is all set to play South Africa for 3 Tests & 3 ODI's. The T20 series which was originally scheduled has been postponed and will be played at a later date due to the new Omnicron Variant.

1st Test - @Centurion
2nd Test - @Johannesburg
3rd Test - @Cape Town

India’s Test Squad: Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma(vc), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(wk), Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul, Siraj

1st ODI - @Paarl
2nd ODI - @Paarl
3rd ODI - @Cape Town

 

[icyman]

Given the rise of Omicrom, I personally feel we should call off the tour! If India doesn't they will be rightly accused of cowardice and double standards (remember Manchester here)

I feel its utterly stupid that our players would head to the Rainbow nation in the wake of a new variant. Understand this question was posed to Kohli wherein he claimed that Rahul Dravid has initiated talks with the BCCI.

It is utterly foolish of the BCCI to continue the India A tour under the circumstances. I say this- cause the ICC has, since stopped the WWC Qualifiers. However, none of this, surprisingly seems to have a bearing on the board. Such a pathetic state of affairs!

Pretty soon we'll have absolute clarity on South Africa tour - Kohli

In the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa, Kohli said that a conversation has been initiated within the team and expected a clarity on the situation soon

www.cricbuzz.com

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Given the rise of Omicrom, I personally feel we should call off the tour! If India doesn't they will be rightly accused of cowardice and double standards (remember Manchester here)

I feel its utterly stupid that our players would head to the Rainbow nation in the wake of a new variant. Understand this question was posed to Kohli wherein he claimed that Rahul Dravid has initiated talks with the BCCI.

It is utterly foolish of the BCCI to continue the India A tour under the circumstances. I say this- cause the ICC has, since stopped the WWC Qualifiers. However, none of this, surprisingly seems to have a bearing on the board. Such a pathetic state of affairs!

Pretty soon we'll have absolute clarity on South Africa tour - Kohli

In the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa, Kohli said that a conversation has been initiated within the team and expected a clarity on the situation soon

www.cricbuzz.com

While I completely agree that the tour should be called off, we did not leave Manchester because covid was widespread, we left because we were hit by covid internally. Had we not had cases, we would have played at Manchester.

If this tour is cancelled, I pity for SA. They will lose so much money.

 

[CerealKiller]

Pakistan and West Indies played in England in a strict bubble when the UK was the worst hit nation. Their own Prime Minister was in intensive care. If South Africa are abandoned again, just like last year, it will show that Big 3 really don't care about other nations. England and Australia already abandoned them last year. IPL and England's tour to India went ahead despite the Delta variant causing havoc there in early 2021.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Pakistan and West Indies played in England in a strict bubble when the UK was the worst hit nation. Their own Prime Minister was in intensive care. If South Africa are abandoned again, just like last year, it will show that Big 3 really don't care about other nations. England and Australia already abandoned them last year. IPL and England's tour to India went ahead despite the Delta variant causing havoc there in early 2021.

There's no denying that what Pakistan and West Indies did was worth appreciating. But that doesn't mean others should be doing the same, does it? If Indian players don't want to go into that environment it is solely their choice. Harsh on CSA and South Africa as a country, but in these situations we really can't do anything.

 

[CerealKiller]

There's no denying that what Pakistan and West Indies did was worth appreciating. But that doesn't mean others should be doing the same, does it? If Indian players don't want to go into that environment it is solely their choice. Harsh on CSA and South Africa as a country, but in these situations we really can't do anything.

I completely understand players not wanting to tour, but the double standard and privilege of the Big 3 is disgraceful.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I completely understand players not wanting to tour, but the double standard and privilege of the Big 3 is disgraceful.

AFAIK India toured Australia & England when Covid protocols were almost relaxed. Also they have continued to play their A-team on the tour despite the recent developments. So I don't see any double standards over here. Honestly, it always comes down to what the players are feeling.

 

[CerealKiller]

AFAIK India toured Australia & England when Covid protocols were almost relaxed. Also they have continued to play their A-team on the tour despite the recent developments. So I don't see any double standards over here. Honestly, it always comes down to what the players are feeling.

India have been much better in this regard than England and Australia, agreed.

 

[SaiSrini]

Given the rise of Omicrom, I personally feel we should call off the tour! If India doesn't they will be rightly accused of cowardice and double standards (remember Manchester here)

I feel its utterly stupid that our players would head to the Rainbow nation in the wake of a new variant. Understand this question was posed to Kohli wherein he claimed that Rahul Dravid has initiated talks with the BCCI.

It is utterly foolish of the BCCI to continue the India A tour under the circumstances. I say this- cause the ICC has, since stopped the WWC Qualifiers. However, none of this, surprisingly seems to have a bearing on the board. Such a pathetic state of affairs!

Pretty soon we'll have absolute clarity on South Africa tour - Kohli

In the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa, Kohli said that a conversation has been initiated within the team and expected a clarity on the situation soon

www.cricbuzz.com

The world has changed a lot since that Manchester test. There is a lot of news floating that Omicron is likely to result in milder symptoms, especially if you are vaccinated with two initial shots (some anecdotal evidence says its milder even in unvaccinated). I am sure the players and the staff will all be vaccinated and will continue to remain in bio bubbles.

I dont think the "double standards" argument can hold because the world keeps changing.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

So this is so freaking funny. We have a T20 world cup next year and we instead of scrapping ODI's, scrapt T20's.. what? This tour is on and I expected this to go ahead. Rohit Sharma has officially taken over the captaincy role from Virat in limited overs so he will be leading the side.

India’s Test team for South Africa: Squad: Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma(vc), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(wk), Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul, Siraj

Good to see Vihari back in the squad. He surely plays since he is also the leading run scorer in the ongoing India A tour. While I feel its almost time, this would be Rahane's one last attempt to redeem himself. Puji and Rahane if they perform, will stay or else one of them may lose their position. Excited for the test series.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Based on the squad we picked I think we will see the following XI? Vihari playing would come down to us picking 5 bowlers or 4. Kohli loves 5 bowlers so probably Vihari might not get a chance.

Rohit Sharma
KL Rahul
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Ajinkya Rahane
Rishabh Pant
Hanuma Vihari/Shardul
Ravi Ashwin
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Siraj

 

[SaiSrini]

So they broke the suspense early enough to not let too many rumors float around!!! Good that Rohit Sharma is taking over captaincy in the white ball formats as it should be done (once Virat announced step down from T20I captaincy). Shreyas should be the ODI vice captain, but I feel they will give it to KL Rahul.

The demotion of Rahane from vice captaincy can be a very good thing for him. He should feel happy that he's still been selected in the side. What better opportunity to take this in his stride and work on his game. It helped a lot that Rohit had an excellent overseas series in England and so the job of making him test vice captain was easy!

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Done. @WutUpMahGlipGlops

 

[icyman]

Good that Rohit Sharma is taking over captaincy in the white ball formats as it should be done (once Virat announced step down from T20I captaincy). Shreyas should be the ODI vice captain, but I feel they will give it to KL Rahul.

We can still hope for Shreyas to be deputy to Rohit. If it were to be KLR, they would have announced it instantaneously. I believe, Dravid would want to create a pipeline of talent as well as leadership here. Having separate vice-captains might just work in this case, as it would ready a player to take the plunge, once the mass transition begins.

 

[AliB]

We can still hope for Shreyas to be deputy to Rohit. If it were to be KLR, they would have announced it instantaneously. I believe, Dravid would want to create a pipeline of talent as well as leadership here. Having separate vice-captains might just work in this case, as it would ready a player to take the plunge, once the mass transition begins.

Read a report, Rahul all set to be the vice-captain, Pant to be groomed as the future captain. I want Iyer!