Sports News | South African Cricketers Return to Training

Johannesburg, Jun 30 (PTI) Led by Quinton de Kock, South Africa's 44 cricketers, who are part of a men's high performance squad, have returned to training amid the COVID-19 pandemic after getting approval from the country's sports ministry.

Cricketing activities in South Africa have been suspended since March 15, when the domestic one-day event was in progression.

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Around the same time, the men's national team was touring India for a three-match ODI series, which had to be postponed after the rained off opener due to the pandemic.

South Africa has reported more than 1,38,000 COVID-19 cases with over 2,400 deaths.

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According to Cricket South Africa, the players will train in small monitored groups with identified coaches from their nearest franchise teams.

The sessions will be in accordance with the guidelines set out by the CSA COVID-19 steering committee and approved by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).

"We engaged with the NICD who were comfortable with our protocols and responses to their queries for further details in some respects," CSA Chief Medical Officer, Shuaib Manjra said.

"Our prevention programme, besides the regular testing of players and support staff, is predicated on personal hygiene measures and creating a sanitised ecosystem.

"COVID-19 compliance managers at each venue have assumed responsibility to ensure all the elements of the protocol are implemented," he added.

Plans for the commencement of training for the women's High Performance training squad are still being deliberated upon.

The training sessions will be closed to the media until CSA makes provision for a media opportunity. This includes photographers.

Training Squad:

Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Junior Dala, Theunis de Bruyn, Rassie van der Dussen, Shaun von Berg, Dwaine Pretorius, Henrich Klaasen, Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Wiaan Mulder, Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, David Miller, Sarel Erwee, Khaya Zondo, Daryn Dupavillon, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Keagan Petersen, Imran Tahir, Lutho Sipamla, Edward Moore, Anrich Nortje, Sisanda Magala, Glenton Stuurman, Jon-Jon Smuts, Rudi Second, Pite van Biljon, Raynaard van Tonder, Gerald Coetzee, Pieter Malan, Zubayr Hamza, Janneman Malan, Faf du Plessis, Tony de Zorzi, Beuran Hendricks, Nandre Burger, George Linde and Kyle Verreynne. PTI AT PM PM 06301132 NNNNnounced that Akshay's "Laxmmi Bomb", "Sadak 2", featuring Alia Bhatt, Devgn and Sanjay Dutt-starrer "Bhuj: The Pride of India", Abhishek Bachchan's "The Big Bull", Vidyut Jammwal's "Khuda Haafiz" and "Lootcase", featuring Kunal Kemmu and Rasika Dugal, are all set to premiere on streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar.

During a virtual press conference, Akshay had said though he is "excited" about releasing "Laxmmi Bomb" on the OTT platform, he feels "sad" that people won't be able to watch the movie in theatres.

"To be honest, today I am excited for this platform. But yes, I'll say that I am also sad for theatres. After all, movies are theatres first birth right. But in the current situation, everyone's safety is of utmost priority.

"Today with theatres being shut and people watching movies on OTT platforms, if I can make my fans happy by releasing film on Disney+ Hotstar, which is a big platform with a massive reach, then I am glad," Akshay told reporters.

The decision to put out the films on streaming services was not welcomed by many cinema chain owners, but the announcement of theatrical release of "Sooryavanshi" and "'83" has come as a relief.

"Exciting times ahead... Gearing up to release Rohit Shetty's 'Sooryavanshi' on Diwali and Kabir Khan's ''83' on Christmas this 2020," PVR Cinemas, the largest theatre chain in the country, posted on its Twitter page.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)