South Africa acclaims Indian ‘solidarity’

GBNEWS24DESK//

The South African government has praised the “solidarity” of India’s cricketers ahead of a high-profile cricket tour to the republic in the next two months and pledged to “take all precautions necessary”.

India are due to play three Tests, three one-day internationals and four Twenty20 internationals between December 17 and January 26.

A tour by India is easily the biggest money-spinner for South African cricket and believed to be worth hundreds of millions of rands.

India’s A team is currently playing the second of three four-day matches against South Africa A in Bloemfontein despite concerns about the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which has led to bans on travel to and from South Africa and disrupted cricket, rugby and golf events.

South Africa’s department of international relations and cooperation said in a statement on Tuesday: “A full bio-secure environment will be established around both the South African and Indian A teams as well as the two national teams.

“India’s decision to show solidarity by choosing to continue with the tour of the Indian A team stands in contrast with several countries who have decided to close their borders and to restrict travel from southern African countries after South Africa announced the detection of the new Omicron variant.

“The South African government has expressed its appreciation to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for allowing the tour to continue and for not letting travel restrictions negatively impact on international sports.”