India`s tour of South Africa to get axed?

Johannesburg: India`s controversial tour of South Africa has reportedly been curtailed to a large extent following the Indian cricket board`s announcement of the itinerary for their series against West Indies, which clashes with at least five of the fixtures originally revealed for the Proteas tour.

The tour by the Caribbean side was primarily designed to ensure that soon-to-retire legend Sachin Tendulkar plays his 199th and 200th Tests on home soil, including a poignant swansong in his home city of Mumbai (the second and final Test from November 14-18). According to Sport24, the hastily-rearranged itinerary for the West Indies shows the impasse between the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) over the scheduling of the series and its financial implications. The report mentioned that the originally CSA-intended tour matches that now overlap with confirmed other Indian commitments are the November 18 warm-up against a SA Invitation XI, two Twenty20 internationals scheduled for Johannesburg and Cape Town on November 21 and 24 respectively and the first ODI in Durban (Nov 27). The report mentioned that the first ODI in Durban (Nov 27) and also the second in Port Elizabeth (Nov 30, three days after India have wound up their home series against West Indies, may also come under the cutting board, adding that the proposed third Test at the Wanderers, which was due to end on January 19, will also be shelved or, re-arranged because India would be in New Zealand by then. That is roughly half of the programme CSA had intended going up in smoke given that they first boasted three Tests, which included two T20 internationals and seven money-spinning ODIs, the report added.