CHENNAI: The BCCI’s plans to host the women’s teams of West Indies and South Africa have hit a roadblock. It is understood that Cricket South Africa and Cricket West Indies, citing the Covid-19 situation in India, are yet to confirm availability. Cases in the country touched three million on Sunday.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said earlier this month they have plans for the women’s side including a camp, while announcing that a T20 Challenger would be held in the UAE alongside the IPL. That announcement came after widespread criticism of not sending the women’s team to England for a limited-over international series, when the IPL was shifted to the UAE.
However, a couple of players this newspaper spoke to revealed there hasn’t been any communication from BCCI with regards to a camp. With the T20 Challenger scheduled for November 1-10, BCCI wanted a camp in the first week of October, but officials are yet to confirm if it will take place. Though the BCCI hasn’t named anyone to look after women’s cricket following the resignation of general manager Syed Saba Karim, an operations team was discussing the possibility of hosting South Africa and West Indies either side of the T20 Challenger.
However, CSA is in turmoil following the resignation of president Chris Nenzani. Even the CEO’s position is vacant. They have already cancelled their women’s team’s tour of England. Sources in BCCI said they are expecting a decision later this week.
News from West Indies is not encouraging either. Supposed to travel to India in November, they are still waiting to assess the situation in India. “The pre-Covid plan was to tour India this November to reciprocate the tour we hosted in 2019, but it’s early to say whether we can travel to India or whether they will be able to safely host us,” Johnny Grave, CEO of Cricket West Indies, told this daily.
Officials in BCCI revealed they were yet to make plans with regards to a bio-secure bubble. “There hasn’t been any discussion on a host city, leave alone the bubble. May be in a week or two, there will be clarity,” an official said. In a letter to the state units on August 20, Ganguly didn’t make any mention of T20 Challenger, but just stated, “The tours of senior India women’s teams are also under discussion and more details will be shared shortly.”
IPL sponsor pulls out
PTI ADDS: Retail conglomerate Future Group, which is currently going through a restructuring phase, has pulled out of BCCI’s central sponsorship list for the IPL. Future Group has reportedly suffered significant losses due to pandemic. It is learnt their annual IPL sponsorship amount was `40 crore.