IND vs SA| The tour is on as of now, we have time to decide, reveals Sourav Ganguly

India are scheduled to tour South Africa for a three match Test series and as many ODIs along with four T20I matches. Team India are scheduled to depart on December 8 or 9. However, concerns have been raised over the series due to the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant named Omicron in the country. The South African foreign ministry has promised India a fully secure bio-bubble environment and ensured that all the protocols for the health and safety of players will be taken care of.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said that the tour is still on and the board will keep a watch on how the situation regarding the new variant of the Covid pans out and will take the decision.

“The tour is on as things stand till now. We still have time to decide. The first Test is scheduled from December 17. We will ponder about it. Players’ security and health has always been BCCI’s first priority, we will do everything possible for this. We will see what happens in the days to come,” Ganguly told reporters.

The form of Hardik Pandya and his role as all-rounder in the team has been questioned in recent times as he is not bowling his full set of overs and hasn’t been able to score runs with the bat either. Ganguly backed Pandya saying that he is a good cricketer and is not in the team due to his fitness.

“He is a good cricketer. He’s not fit, that’s why he’s not there in the team. He’s young, I hope he makes a comeback after recovering from his injury. Don’t compare him (Hardik) with Kapil Dev. He belonged to a different league,” he concluded.