Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) called off the Indian cricket team's tour of Zimbabwe which was scheduled in August 2020. The series was cancelled due to the ongoing health crisis steered by COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was expected as on Thursday BCCI cancelled India's June-July limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced that the Indian Cricket Team will not travel to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe owing to the current threat of COVID-19," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
"Team India was originally scheduled to travel to the island nation from 24th June 2020 for three ODIs and as many T20Is and to Zimbabwe for a series comprising three ODIs starting 22nd August 2020," Shah added.
Since the tour of New Zealand, Team India has not played any series. In March, the home series against South Africa was cancelled due to the COVID-19 threat.
The Indian team has not resumed training yet and the camp is unlikely before July. Earlier, BCCI said that contracted Indian players were given guidelines set by conditioning coach Nick Webb to maintain their fitness at home.
Before BCCI's guidelines came into play, top Indian cricketers like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were seen posting their training videos on social media. Shami, who is living in his native village Sahaspur in Uttar Pradesh, has a facility to do some running on the farmland.
When the situation improves for a series, all Indian players will be called for a camp at least six weeks before the tournament.
Earlier, when the Indian government allowed reopening of stadiums BCCI said that it will opt for 'wait and watch' policy. With the COVID-19 cases are rising in India, the Indian cricket board has not allowed state bodies to reopen their stadiums.
