The Gabba is at risk of losing the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reportedly expressed their reluctance to travel to Brisbane.
Both squads are currently in Melbourne, and are expected to travel to Sydney for the New Year’s Test on Monday.
The fourth Test is scheduled to take place at the Gabba from December 15, but the BCCI has reportedly voiced their displeasure about Queensland’s strict quarantine proposals.
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Queensland shut its border to New South Wales after a recent surge in COVID-19 cases on Sydney’s northern beaches, understandably causing headaches for Cricket Australia.
However, the two national squads along with some broadcasters have received exemptions to travel into Brisbane on a chartered flight.
Indian coach Ravi Shastri.Source:AFP
As reported by The Australian’s Peter Lalor, the BCCI does not want to travel to Brisbane if the mentally exhausted players will be confined to rooms in a hard lockdown.
“If you look at it, we were quarantining for 14 days in Dubai before landing in Sydney and doing so for another 14 days,” an Indian official told Cricbuzz.
“That means we were in a hard bubble for nearly a month before coming out. What we don‘t want now is to quarantine again at the end of the tour.”
Australia’s players have reportedly been informed that they will be restricted to their hotel rooms when not training or playing in Brisbane.
Australia has not lost a Test match at the Gabba since 1988.
It’s no secret the BCCI is immensely influential in the cricket world, meaning Brisbane is in serious danger of losing the Test match.
Indian cricketers caught breaching, dummy gets spat re Brisbane. Is that the general gist? #AUSvIND
Fair enough. The hub life is asking far too much of players and staff. It’s not sustainable
On Saturday, CA released a statement saying it was investigating as potential COVID-19 biosecurity protocols from the Indian cricket team.
Cricket tragic Navaldeep Singh spotted Indian squad members Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini were seen dining in a restaurant on Friday afternoon.
CA’s strict biosecurity guidelines dictate players should only dine in public outdoors, but the Indian quintet is seemingly indoors without masks.
“The BCCI and CA are investigating the matter and seeking to determine whether the outing constitutes a breach of biosecurity protocols,” the statement read.
“In the interim, on the advice of the Australian and Indian medical teams, the aforementioned players have been placed in isolation as a precaution.”
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