India’s forthcoming tour of South Africa,
scheduled to start on December 17 with the first Test in Johannesburg, has
reportedly been postponed for a week due to fear of the omicron variant of
coronavirus.

“We are discussing to push back the
series by a week due to the threat of Omicron COVID variant and we are awaiting
the Indian government nod, both boards are in constant touch and everything is
being discussed. The health and safety of our players is of utmost
importance,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by ANI.

Also Read: Too early to say omicron would cause mild illness: Scientists

Team India is slated to play three Tests,
three ODIs and four T20Is against South Africa.

India’s tour of South Africa has been under
threat since the South African government announced the emergence of omicron in
Pretoria last week.

On Wednesday, South African scientists, in
their presentation to lawmakers Wednesday, said it is too early to say omicron
would cause mild illness.

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Earlier union sports minister Anurag Thakur
had said that BCCI should consult the government before sending the Indian
cricket team to South Africa, where the daily number of new confirmed cases
almost doubled to 8,561 in the last 24 hours.

“Not only BCCI, but every board should
also consult the Indian government before sending the team to a country where a
new COVID-19 variant has emerged. It is not right to send the team to a country
where there is a threat, if BCCI consults us we will deliberate on that,”
Thakur was quoted as saying by ANI.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) named
the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as
‘omicron’ and described it as a “variant of concern”. The United Nations’
international health wing has also sought global cooperation among scientists
in understanding the nature of omicron better.

Currently, the India A team players are in
Bloemfontein for the ongoing series against South Africa A.