On Friday, the BCCI treasurer, Arun Dhumal reckons that the board has made no commitment to South Africa tour in August and there have only been discussions about such a possibility. CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith and Chief Executive Jacques Faul on Thursday said that India has agreed for a three-match T20I series in the rainbow nation in August, signaling a resumption of cricket in the post-COVID-19 world.
As per the quotes in PTI, Dhumal said, “When South Africa’s tour of India got canceled due to coronavirus, we had discussions that if there is a possibility, we will make an effort to tour South Africa. But at no point have we made any commitment to Cricket South Africa about touring in August.”
The senior BCCI office-bearer then said that unless the government clears international travel, BCCI won’t be making any commitment to any country.
ALSO READ: Parthiv Patel recalls sledging another Aussie Legend after Steve Waugh
Dhumal asked, “Right now, we can’t even commit that we can tour Sri Lanka in July followed by (short T20 series) in Zimbabwe. Both these tours are part of the FTP program and we are still not sure what the situation will be in two months, so how can we commit on the South Africa tour?”
On a different note, when asked about CSA Director of Cricket Smith’s support to Sourav Ganguly’s candidature for the ICC chairmanship, Dhumal said it would be good for global cricket if an Indian becomes the chief.
Dhumal said, “There has been no formal discussion in BCCI about ICC chairmanship. Graeme Smith obviously spoke in his personal capacity which is not CSA’s stand.”
While the support to have an IPL in October-November window instead of the T20 World Cup is growing, Dhumal said BCCI won’t push for a postponement of the T20 World Cup global event but at the same time, it needs to be seen that in these times, whether an event of that magnitude can be held in Australia.
ALSO READ: Ravi Shastri Feels Amol Mujumdar Should’ve Played Test Cricket
With the civil aviation ministry announcing that domestic flights will be starting from May 25, the BCCI treasurer said the Board could explore safe zone options for a national camp in case it can’t be held at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
Describing the same, Dhumal said, “Since it’s my state association, I would never, from my end, push it but if after exploring options, BCCI finds that Dharamsala can have a camp, I am more than ready to make all the arrangements. Even the hotel where the Indian team stays ‘Pavilion’ is HPCA property. It all depends on what is the best available option.”
