The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed Cricket Australia that India will not be travelling to Brisbane for the final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar trophy series if the team has to undergo another round of hard quarantine, a report on ESPNcricinfo read.
India and Australia are currently in Sydney playing the third Test of the series, which is level at 1-1. The fourth and final Test in Brisbane is scheduled to begin from January 15.
The report said the BCCI sent an email to CA, terming the hard quarantine “immaterial” as India has already spent the first two weeks in isolation upon their arrival in Australia. It further said that an official with the Board pointed out that normal life in Australia continued without many restrictions. Therefore, asking players to be confined to their hotels rooms in team hotels did not make sense.
“It is too taxing for the boys, asking them to travel to Brisbane and be in the jail for another five days,” ESPN quoted the official as saying.
Players are currently in a bio-secure bubble that follows a stricter COVID-19 protocol. The border between New South Wales and Queensland, which will host the next Test, has been closed after a rise in cases in Sydney.
Indian players have also expressed their reluctance at being subject to a hard quarantine and have said that it was becoming “too stressful” to be restricted to the team hotels. They are allowed to mingle outside their rooms in the communal areas within the hotel.
However, the protocol in Brisbane, which has been imposed by the Queensland government, are far too restrictive.
The BCCI also said that the final Test can be staged in Sydney, where the third match of the series is taking place, if the CA was particular about restrictions.
