Smith “would not judge” BCCI for bubble fiasco

South Africa suffered the crisis of bubble breach, PSL suffered the same fate and now it was BCCI’s turn to postpone the tournament following a host of cases within the bubble. Multiple South African players were a part of the tournament, which caused CSA considerable tension, but that doesn’t mean Graeme Smith would be harsh on BCCI.

"In no way would we judge," Smith, CSA's director of cricket, told an online press conference on Thursday. 

"Having spoken to the players, they felt safe. They felt the BSE [Bio-Secure Environment] was a really good experience in India. They never felt at risk. But that's the nature of what Covid brings."

"Sometimes you can do whatever you want but the BSE - as we've said to everyone - is never foolproof. When Covid is raging in your country there's always a risk. Unfortunately, once it gets inside it's very difficult to predict what's going to happen."

The BCCI have assured all players to arrange for their safe transit back home and thankfully for South African players, the country is allowing commercial flights from India. The former South African skipper said all 10 of the South African IPL players would be under home isolation after arriving in the country on Friday.

"The duty of care [the BCCI has] shown in getting everyone home has been exemplary. From our own players' perspective it's been made slightly easier in that our borders aren't closed and there's still commercial travel available for them."