Team India departs without signing BCCI contract

MUMBAI: The Indian cricket team is set to depart for the tour of South Africa on Monday night without the players signing the annual contract with the BCCI.

Indian Cricket Board Secretary Niranjan Shah said the contracts would be signed after the players return from the tour early next year.

"The contracts have not been signed. It will be done only after the team's return," Shah said on Monday

The team, which leaves for South Africa later on Monday night, is scheduled to play five one-dayers, three Tests and a Twenty20 international match against the hosts before returning home on January 7.

Earlier, the BCCI had told that the contracts would be signed before the Indian team's departure for South Africa.