Indian cricket team will undergo a three-day quarantine in Mumbai before flying to Johannesburg, South Africa on Wednesday by charter flight. Members of the South Africa-bound squad have been asked to check into a five-star hotel near the Mumbai International Airport by Sunday evening to fulfil the biosecurity protocols, a report said.
Before entering the bio-bubble, the likes of the Indian cricket team’s Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shardul Thakur took part in a mini-camp at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai under India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey. Indian cricket team will play three Tests and three ODIs but at this point, only the members of the Test squad will fly to the Rainbow Nation.
Indian Cricket Team’s Hanuma Vihari Who Did Well For India A To Stay Back Along With Cricketers Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswallam
Meanwhile, a few members of the Indian cricket team A squad — Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswallam, Hanuma Vihari, and Vivek Ramakrishna (trainer), who were involved in a three-game series against South Africa A, have stayed back and will join the senior side after they reach there.
The rest of India A squad avoided landing in Mumbai and flew directly to Ahmedabad from Bloemfontein to avoid strict quarantine protocols in Maharashtra. Notably, there were concerns around senior teams’ travel to South Africa, which is reeling under Omicron, a new and deadlier variant of COVID-19.
Hanuma Vihari has scored 624 runs in 12 Tests averaging 32.84. He battled a hamstring injury to hit a match-saving 23 runs from 161 balls against Australia in the Sydney 3rd Test.
Rohit Sharma’s participation in the Test leg of India’s tour of South Africa has been put in doubt due to injury. While the nature of the injury is yet to be confirmed, it has been learned that Rohit Sharma, if ruled out, will be replaced by the Gujarat batter Priyank Panchal, who has been alerted by BCCI.
Indian Cricket Team A Had An Incident Free South Africa A Tour
However, the incident-free Indian cricket team A tour has emboldened the BCCI and the members for travelling to the country. The CSA has also promised to leave nothing to chance on the implementation of BSE protocols during the tour. The first of the three Tests starts in Centurion on December 26. Wanderers in Johannesburg and Newlands in Cape Town will host the other two Tests.
All of the 3 unofficial Tests between the Indian A cricket team and South Africa A were drawn. South Africa’s Sarel Erwee, Tony de Zorzi, and Pieter Malan are leading the batting charts followed by Hanuma Vihari and Abhimanyu Easwaran. Navdeep Saini, Lutho Sipamla, and Glenton Stuurman are leading the bowling charts.
The Indian cricket team was initially scheduled to fly out on December 9, with the first Test starting at Johannesburg on December 17 but it was postponed to December 26. The team was to play 3 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 4 T20Is in South Africa, but the one-week postponement meant 4 T20Is would be added to the next tour.