India tour of Australia: While India are committed to playing the 4th Test in Brisbane, the visitors want the hotel room confinement issue during quarantine sorted. The BCCI and Cricket Australia officials are expected to discuss the issue during the ongoing Sydney Test.
Even as the 3rd Test got underway in Sydney on January 7, there has been a lot of chatter about the 4th Test, which has been scheduled to start from January 17 in Brisbane. Why the chatter? Well, India have some reservations about Cricket Australia's quarantine protocols in Queensland and India Today reported on Wednesday that the two boards will be talking soon to sort out the issue.
As official word is awaited, India Today can confirm that Team India's stance on the issue hasn't changed. India are committed to playing the 4th Test in Brisbane but only if the hotel room confinement issue is sorted. What's the bone of contention?
India not keen on hotel room confinement
Unlike reports on Australian media, India, at no point in time, have said they would not follow the quarantine protocols in Queensland after reaching there from New South Wales. However, the visitors are against the policy of being confined to their individual hotel rooms during the quarantine period.
According to CA's protocols, no player or support staff can leave his hotel room after training hours in the lead up to the 4th Test in Brisbane. However, India doesn't want the players to be restricted to their hotel rooms. While it's certain that India will follow the other protocols by not stepping out of the hotel, the team management wants the players to be allowed to visit each other at their rooms.
India are arguing that the players are going to be coming in contact during training or their journey to the ground and there will be enough exposure then. So it's not ideal for the players to be restricted from visiting each other's rooms at the team hotel. Notably, India completed a 14-day hard quarantine after their arrival in Australia wherein none of the players were allowed to leave their hotel rooms.
Earlier on Thursday, Australia captain Tim Paine said Australia are focussed on the Sydney Test and not focussed too much on the row over the venue for the 4th Test.
"That's all we can do (focus on this game), try and play our best game here in Sydney. What happens off the field and between the boards is out of our control. we are very clear. We are happy to play anywhere anytime. So, we'll go about or business in this game," Paine said.
Notably, Cricket Australia's interim chief Nick Hockley had refuted rumpus of India denying a Brisbane trip, saying both teams want to play as per schedule.
"We've had nothing formal from the BCCI to suggest anything other than they're supportive ... Both teams have wanted to play the schedule as we've set out," Hockley had said.
0 Comments