Team India Set To Depart To South Africa On December 16, Will Enter Bio-Bubble On Sunday - Reports

The Indian team is likely to enter the bio-bubble in Mumbai on December 12, Sunday, before departing to South Africa on a chartered flight on December 16 in a bubble-to-bubble transfer.

Virat Kohli and co. recently completed the New Zealand Test series and are on a break before the all-important South Africa tour. They have never won a Test series on the Protean shores and this will be their best shot at altering that record.

The team that will play the Test series will be in a bubble from the start till the end. The strict protocols in place are due to the emergence of the fast-spreading Omicron variant. The tour itself was under the clouds but BCCI recently gave the green light for the same.

The 3-match Test series will be part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle. The BCCI announced the squad for the same and Kohli will be expectedly leading the side. India was hit with three injury issues as Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, and Axar Patel were ruled out.

The fast bowling stocks remain strong as ever with Jasprit Bumrah all set to lead the pack. Players who were rested for the 2-match New Zealand Test series – Mohammad Shami, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shardul Thakur have all returned for the tour.

India’s squad for the South Africa tour:

Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk) Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav.

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