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The status and make-up of India's tour of South Africa, scheduled to
begin in late November, has been put in doubt after it was left out of a
list of upcoming series announced by the BCCI on Sunday. BCCI president
N Srinivasan said the series is "definitely on", though, and
ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI is on the verge of giving Cricket
South Africa a pruned itinerary.
Srinivasan, speaking after the board's working commitee in Kolkata, told PTI: "I've not said that the South Africa series will be scrapped. It's definitely on. We have [merely] proposed
a West Indies series in November. There were neither any discussions on
the South Africa series, nor did any members raise any questions on
it."
Despite the supposed lack of discussion on the subject at the meeting,
it is understood that negotiations between the BCCI and CSA have been on
for quite a while, and the BCCI is on the verge of giving the South
African board a revised schedule cutting down what was originally
scheduled to be a three-Test, seven-ODI and two-Twenty20 tour to two
Tests, three ODIs and two T20s. The BCCI had already objected to the itinerary released in July, saying Cricket South Africa had announced the schedule without the Indian board's consent.
"Our priority is to look after the interests of our players and the
board," a BCCI official said. "And such a long tour wasn't viable from
either perspective. We need to space out tours so that cricketers get
much-needed breaks between them."
A CSA official told ESPNcricinfo that the board had not been contacted
by the BCCI on the schedule yet, and it would not respond till it
receives "a formal proposal".
If CSA goes with the reduced series, the next bone of contention would be the Boxing Day Test. CSA had reintroduced
the traditional Test while announcing the itinerary for India's tour in
July. However, the BCCI may demand that the Tests be played before
limited-overs' games, thus taking a Boxing Day Test out of equation.
The BCCI has had issues with CSA over the past year. The Indian board had "raised concerns"
when it was known that Haroon Lorgat was in the running to take over as
CSA chief; the BCCI and Lorgat are thought to have clashed over several
issues, including the Future Tours Programme, the DRS and an ICC
independent governance review, during the Lorgat's tenure as ICC chief
executive officer.
CSA officials had travelled to India in February to meet with the BCCI
to discuss their objections to Lorgat, and, after his appointment,
Lorgat had said
improving relations with the BCCI was a priority. "If I need to sit
across a table, to go to India, whatever it takes to smooth things
over... I have to put CSA first," Lorgat had said. "When the issues come
out, if it means I have offended someone and I need to apologise, I
will."
There is also a feeling in South Africa that the BCCI has been trying to
isolate the board through the Champions League Twenty20. The BCCI owns a
50% stake in the tournament, the boards of Australia and South Africa
share the rest equally. It is learnt that CSA was not consulted before
the fixtures were announced for the 2013 tournament, which starts in
India later this month, and South African staff due to attend it are now
inclined to stay away.
Amol Karhadkar is a correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
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© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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