The fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy is in hesitancy as reports suggest that team India is declining to take the road to Brisbane.
It’s come to notice that the BCCI has sent a formal letter to Cricket Australia stating their concern. It is understood that the members are unhappy with the new quarantine restrictions they will be during their days at Queensland.
What’s more alarming is the COVID-19 outbreak in Brisbane. The state has been put on high alert and the members fear that their approaching long cricket series between England could be hampered. India host the three lions in a long series starting from the 5th of February which goes on for almost two months.
Jeannette Young, the state’s chief confirmed earlier that the cricket can go on provided that both the teams stick to the protocol applied. Under the guidelines, the players and staff will only be allowed to travel between the hotel and the ground.
“They will be confined to the hotel. They are going to be playing with their colleagues in the matches so they are going to have exposure there. So it doesn’t concern me if they have exposure to one another in the hotel.”
The Indian team has been in quarantine for several months now dating back to September and it’s getting to them. They have voiced out their opinion to the CA and have made it clear. However, the Australian board needs to have an urgent update if India will shun the last Test.
Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane refused to say anything before the start of the third Test. While Tim Paine was of the opinion of some friction between the tourists.
“It’s boiling away. There’s some stuff starting to happen, there’s a bit of chat starting to happen. There’s a bit of tension starting to boil under the surface with a lot of unnamed sources coming out from their camp saying where they want to play the fourth Test and where they don’t want to go. I think it’s starting to grind a few people so we’ll see how it goes." Paine guessed.
The BCCI has not spelt out whether they want the fourth Test to be played in Sydney or they want to flee the country. The decisions coming from Mumbai have been hampered due to Sourav Ganguly, the president of the board, being hospitalised last week. SCG curator Adam Lewis also confirmed on Wednesday that he hadn’t been asked to prepare another pitch if a second Test was to be played.
