Proteas to continue tour of India despite coronavirus fears

The Proteas will continue their tour to India next month despite the ongoing concerns over the coronavirus.

Quinton de Kock’s men take on Virat Kohli’s India in three ODIs between March 12 and 17 .

Cricket South Africa (CSA) released a press release on Friday stating that they have taken the necessarily precautions to keep their players and management staff in the subcontinent.

According to Al Jazeera, the number of coronavirus cases in India has increased sharply from six to 31 this week.

“CSA is fully conscious of the risks presented in regard to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and has engaged in a formal risk assessment process to ensure the health and safety of and duty of care to our players and staff, ” the statement read.

“This risk assessment is informed by information provided by international experts, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the South African Department of Health and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). ”

“We (CSA) have also been liaising with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the South African embassy in India and Indian security and risk experts. The government of India has also provided the necessary assurances ,” continued the statement.

The team will depart for India on Sunday morning and travel via Dubai. After landing and spending the day in Delhi, the Proteas will play their fixtures in Dharamshala, Lucknow and Kolkata.

“None of the playing venues have recorded positive cases and travel between these cities will be via chartered flights reducing the risk even further. The risks in Dubai and Delhi are considered low ,” it read.

“While the risk remains low, precautionary measures are necessary because of the highly infectious nature of the disease. The team has been appraised of hygiene precautions, avoidance measures, and symptom recognition in addition to being provided with travel kits.

“CSA Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shuaib Manjra will be traveling with the team as team doctor and will keep abreast of developments in India and worldwide and advise CSA and team management accordingly,” ended the statement.

Meanwhile, the Proteas are searching for a whitewash when they take on Australia in the final ODI on Saturday in Potchefstroom.

Play starts at 10.00am.

Proteas squad for India ODIs:

Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj.

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