South Africa: Cricket South Africa (CSA) president Chris Nenzani is set to meet top BCCI officials in Mumbai on Friday in a bid to break the deadlock over India’s tour to South Africa. ESPNcricinfo understands that Nenzani, who was formally invited for a meeting by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel on Tuesday, has not only accepted the invitation but also confirmed the date of the meeting after discussing the issue with Patel.
CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat, whose appointment resulted in a tiff between the two bodies, was not invited for the meeting, and is unlikely to fly down to Mumbai for the meeting.
Patel, who was in Rajkot on Wednesday to attend the unveiling of the Indian team’s new limited-overs jersey, is likely to arrive in Mumbai on Thursday. BCCI chief N Srinivasan, who was recently permitted by India’s Supreme Court to take charge as board president, will also attend the meeting.
Nenzani will skip CSA’s annual general meeting, to be held in Johannesburg on Saturday morning. However, given that the boards may find a solution to the impasse over India’s tour, stakeholders in South African cricket, who have been demanding the fixtures to be sorted out at the earliest, are unlikely to question their chief’s absence from the AGM.
India’s schedules for the home series against West Indies, which didn’t feature in the FTP until it was announced, and the tour to New Zealand have already been announced. The BCCI is likely to offer CSA two Tests and three ODIs – the minimum requirement of a full tour according to ICC guidelines – instead of an earlier released schedule of two T20s, seven ODIs and three Tests. It remains to be seen whether the BCCI agrees to add any more international games to the fixtures, thus helping CSA recover a part of revenue losses in case of a shortened tour.
