Hope India’s tour of South Africa goes ahead: Farhan Behardien

The
Indian
team,
during
the
nearly
seven-week
assignment
starting
December
17,
is
scheduled
to
play
three
Tests,
three
ODIs
and
four
T20
Internationals
across
four
venues
—
Johannesburg,
Centurion,
Paarl,
and
Cape
Town.
But
the
new
COVID
variant
has
put
the
tour
in
limbo
with
the
BCCI
insisting
that
any
decision
on
the
fate
of
the
series
will
be
taken
based
on
the
government’s
advice.

“I
hope
the
biggest
cricket
nation
in
the
world
tours
our
country
next
month!!
The
future
generation
of
South
African
players
need
it
more
than
ever!!”
Behardien
tweeted.

As
of
now,
India’s
tour
is
on
but
it
is
understood
that
the
BCCI,
in
the
next
few
days,
will
be
talking
to
Cricket
South
Africa
on
the
detection
of
the
new
variant
—
B.1.1.529
–,
which
has
caused
considerable
panic
across
the
globe.

The
World
Health
Organisation
named
it
Omicron
on
Friday.
Cases
are
on
the
rise
in
the
northern
part
of
the
country
and
at
least
two
venues
for
the
Test
series
—
Johannesburg
and
Pretoria
(near
Centurion)
—
could
become
vulnerable
to
the
spread
of
the
Omicron
variant.
Scientists
believe
that
the
high
number
of
spike
mutations
could
make
the
new
variant
more
resistant
to
vaccines,
make
it
more
transmissible
and
cause
an
increase
in
the
severity
of
COVID-19
symptoms.

The
36-year-old
Behardien,
who
is
a
former
T20
captain
of
the
Proteas,
also
objected
to
the
variant
being
identified
as
South
African.
“Its
not
the
‘South
African’ variant,
it
was
detected
here
among
other
places
in
the
world.
In
the
famous
words
of
Martin
Van
Jaarsveld,
the
great
Titans
player,
WAKE
UP!!!
#OmicronVariant,”
he
tweeted.

The
new
variant
has
already
taken
its
toll
on
sports
here
with
reports
emerging
on
Friday
that
the
Netherlands
have
withdrawn
from
their
ongoing
ODI
series
in
Centurion.
Cricket
South
Africa
said
a
decision
would
be
made
only
in
the
next
two
days
as
flight
options
for
the
tourists
have
been
affected
by
the
travel
bans
that
have
come
into
the
effect
due
to
the
new
variant.

Besides,
the
upcoming
FIH
Junior
Women’s
Hockey
World
Cup
in
South
Africa
was
also
put
on
hold
on
Friday
due
to
worldwide
fears
about
the
new
variant.
The
prestigious
tournament
was
to
be
held
in
the
Rainbow
Nation
from
December
5
to
16.