BCCI has made no commitment on SA tour: Treasurer Dhumal

CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith and chief executive Jacques Faul on Thursday said India has agreed to tour the Rainbow Nation for three T20 Internationals in August, signalling resumption of cricket in the post coronavirus world. However, Dhumal disagreed.

“When South Africa’s tour of India got cancelled due to the coronavirus, we had discussions that if there is a possibility we will make an effort to tour. But at no point we made any commitment to CSA about touring in August,” Dhumal told PTI. The senior BCCI office bearer then said unless the government clears international travel, BCCI won’t be in a position to make a commitment to any country.

“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 to a South Africa tour (in August)?” asked Dhumal.

On a different note, when asked about Smith’s support to Sourav Ganguly’s candidature for the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairmanship, Dhumal said it would be good for global cricket if an Indian is at the helm. “There has been no formal discussion in BCCI about that. Smith obviously spoke in his personal capacity which is not CSA’s stand,” he said.

CSA president Chris Nenzani refused to endorse Smith’s support for Ganguly in a statement issued on Friday. “As far as BCCI is concerned, we would certainly like an Indian to lead the global body and our president has the credentials obviously. But again, we haven’t yet discussed it,” said Dhumal.

However, a BCCI veteran, who has interacted with Nenzani, said the cashstrapped Proteas should only get a commitment if it backs the BCCI view on ICC policies. “We will definitely play the South Africa series but there should be riders. Is CSA with India on ICC policy matters? With Nenzani, you would want a full commitment on paper and then proceed.

“It is CSA which is desperate for a three-match T20 series (in August). So, it has to decide how it wants to play it at ICC,” said the veteran official.