BCCI likely to announce squads for South Africa tour soon, Virat Kohli’s fate as ODI captain hangs in balance
Virat Kohli (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/Getty Images)
The recently concluded 20-20 World Cup didn’t pan out the way India would have hoped. Before the showpiece event skipper, Virat Kohli announced to step down from the T20Is. However, after the team’s shocking exit in the Super 12 stage from the showpiece event, reports started surfacing that of Kohli will lose the ODI captaincy as well. India will next be seen playing a three-match ODI series against South Africa and it remains to be seen if the 33-year-old will continue being at the helm.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are likely to announce the squad for an all-format tour of South Africa starting on December 17. The Chetan Sharma-led selection panel were set to announce the squad after the conclusion Kanpur Test between India and New Zealand. However, due to the new variant of COVID-19 Omicron hitting the African parts of the regions, there is a delay in the announcement.
Earlier, the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said that the tour will go as per schedule, and now if reports are to be believed, then the squads will be announced soon.
“The Indian squad will be announced in the next few days’ time. We will have everything ready from our end and then wait for the government’s nod. If the government tell us to abort the trip, then we would, but we need to keep the squad selected and ready,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying in The Times of India on Wednesday, December 1.
India will begin the South Africa tour by playing three Tests starting from December 17. However, there is a possibility of the teams playing a shortened series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We will know in a few days’ time if the series would become a two-Test affair rather than three but there have been some back-and-forth discussions,” a local commentator told on air on YouTube during India A’s match against South Africa A in Bloemfontein.
