Former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly, who is currently serving as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president has confirmed that India’s tour to South Africa is well on schedule as of now. There has been growing concern about the spread of the new COVID-19 variant, named Omicron, which was first reported in South Africa.

During the sidelines of the promotional event, talking to the reports as per the quotes in India Today, Sourav Ganguly said, “The tour is on as things stand till now. We still have time to decide. The first Test is scheduled for December 17. We will ponder about it.”

India will be locking horns with New Zealand for teh final Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and is scheduled to depart for Johannesburg from there on December 8 or 9 on a chartered flight.

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Talking about the security of the players, Sourav Ganguly said, “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.”

On their tour to the rainbow nation, Team India is scheduled to play three Tests, as many ODIs, and four T20s. The former India skipper also backed out-of-favor allrounder, Hardik Pandya, to regain his place in the ream after returning to full fitness.

Talking about the same, Ganguly said, “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.”

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Recently, the legendary Kapil Dev questioned Hardik Pandya’s role as an allrounder in Team India after he had stopped bowling following his back surgery. Discussing the same, Sourav Ganguly clarified, “Don’t compare him (Hardik) with Kapil Dev. He belonged to a different league.”