SA vs IND: CSA announce revised itinerary, Paarl and Cape Town to host ODIs

The first two ODIs of the three-match series between India and South Africa will be played at Paarl’s Boland Park on January 19 and 21, followed by the third and final one in Cape Town’s Newlands on January 23, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed.

It is learnt further that the ODIs will not be a part of the ICC Men’s World Cup Super League, which ensures a direct qualification to the top seven teams plus hosts – India – into the 2023 ODI World Cup. However, the upcoming series will be a standalone bilateral event.

The start of the tour has been deferred in the wake of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in southern Africa. As per the original schedule, India were to reach South Africa by December 9, with the Test series set to undergo on December 17. However, as things stand, the first Test will now be played from December 26-30 in Centurion, followed by second in Johannesburg from January 3-7 and the third and final one in Cape Town from January 11-15.

Both the boards – BCCI and CSA – have also reached to a mutual agreement that the four T20Is, which were a part of the original itinerary, will be rescheduled at a later date, truncating the tour all-format to Tests and ODIs.

The India tour has been shrouded with clouds of uncertainty ever since the discovery of the new Covid-19 variant that has already forced multiple postponements/cancellations in the sporting calendars.

The Netherlands team, which was set to play three ODIs against South Africa, left their tour in the middle and flew back home, as various countries had imposed travel restrictions on the African nations. Then, the International Cricket Council was forced to cancel the Women’s World Cup qualifier midway through in Zimbabwe owing to the same reason.

Currently, India A team is in Bloemfontein for three unofficial Tests, of which two have been concluded, while the last one is currently underway. The senior team is expected to leave at least a week and a half before the scheduled start of the first Test.

South Africa v India tour itinerary