The Board of Control for Cricket in India treasurer Arun Dhumal has said that contrary to the Cricket South Africa claims, India’s tour of the Proteas’ land has not been confirmed as yet.
Dhumal’s statement has come a day after CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith and Chief Executive Jacques Faul in a joint teleconference with Press on Thursday had claimed that India would tour South Africa for a three-match T20 Internationals in August
Dhumal while confirming that cricket boards of both the countries have discussed the possibility of the tour, denied any conclusive understanding. “When South Africa’s tour of India got cancelled 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 BCCI treasured told national news agency PTI.
Dhumal further added that the BCCI will only be able to confirm the tour after the Government of India permits international travel.
“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 programme and we are still not sure what the situation will be in two months, so how can we commit on South Africa tour,” Dhumal asked.
Dhumal also reacted to CSAs Cricket Director Graeme Smith’s comment about Sourav Ganguly’s elevation as the ICC Chairman. “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,” he said.
However, CSA President Chris Nenzani refusal to endorse Smith’s stand on next ICC Chairman did not go down well Dhumal. “As far as the BCCI is concerned we would certainly like an Indian to lead the global body and our president has credentials obviously. But again we haven’t yet discussed it,” he said.
“We will definitely play SA series but there should be riders. Is CSA with India on ICC policy matters? With Chris (Nenzani), you would want a full commitment on paper and then proceed. It’s CSA which is desperate for a three-match T20. So they have to decide how they want to play it at the ICC,” said Dhumal.