JOHANNESBURG – Cricket South Africa are still awaiting word from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about the marquee series with India that was due to start in late December, but increasingly looks like only taking place in the new year.
While CSA insiders insist the tour will still contain four Tests, five ODIs and three T20 Internationals, it looks like that full schedule may have to be shoe-horned into a six-week period from the middle of January.
Reports in India indicate the BCCI are insisting that their team play two warm-up games before the first Test.
That means the Boxing Day Test will not feature in that schedule, and that the New Year’s Test at Newlands may be shifted back a week.
India’s previous tour to South Africa was mired in controversy after the schedule was cut, with the 2013 tour comprising just three ODIs and two Tests.
That is unlikely to happen this time, with the two boards having agreed on the structure two years ago ahead of the Proteas’s tour to India, which featured four Tests, five ODIs and three T20s.
@shockerhess