No clarity on South Africa's tour of India, BCCI says ‘nothing has been discussed’

Just a few days ago, reports started coming that women’s international cricket will return in India post-COVID-19 in March, thanks to South Africa. A report by Cricbuzz stated that the two teams will be playing five ODIs and three T20Is.



However, speaking to Women’s CricZone, a top BCCI office-bearer stated that nothing regarding South Africa coming to India for a limited-overs series has been discussed recently. “No we haven’t heard anything from the board about the South Africa series,” the official told this website on conditions of anonymity.



“We even had a meeting the other day but nothing on this matter has been discussed. I have read the news about South Africa coming to India for a limited-overs series but we haven’t been intimidated about anything by the BCCI,” the official added.



The website also got in contact with Cricket South Africa, who also confirmed that nothing has been finalised yet. “Nothing has been confirmed, unfortunately,” a CSA spokesperson, who preferred not to be named.



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The last time India played any international team was in the 2020 T20 World Cup final in Australia where they lost by 85 runs. Soon after COVID-19 pandemic struck putting a halt to every sporting action around the world. While the likes of England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and South Africa have already returned to action post-COVID-19, the Indian players are looking at the end of the tunnel looking for rays of light.



In the meantime, the likes of Jhulan Goswami, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, and Mithali Raj have returned to the ground either individually or training in the camps organised by the respective state associations.



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Last month the West Indies coach Courtney Walsh had stated that the board is in talks with their Indian counterparts for a possible limited-overs series that would help them in the World Cup Qualifiers in Sri Lanka which is scheduled in July later this year.



Reacting to the development, the official stated, “Really? I am hearing this for the first time from you. Honestly, there are no such updates.” Speaking about the domestic senior one-dayers, the official also stated that there have been no updates as to when the tournament is expected to start. The players, too, seem to not have any clue about it.



“Nothing! We have no information about when the domestic season will start, which are the venues, the dates, nothing. We don’t know when we will get to play again. We have been training, but haven’t heard from the association about the dates,” Odisha spinner Sushree Dibyadarshini told this website.