Indian cricket team may undergo 14-day quarantine in Adelaide before Australia Test series: Reports
Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Nick Hockley has made it abundantly clear that both the Indian cricket team as well as the Australian cricketers returning from the Indian Premier League (IPL) will have to undergo two weeks of quarantine in Adelaide.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly was previously concerned about the Indian cricket team getting stuck in a hotel while being quarantined for two weeks before the four-Test series against Australia.
"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the Indian cricket team and Australian players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be. We'll obviously take the guidance of the health experts and the authorities,” CA chief executive Nick Hockley was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“Whether it's a hotel on-site or hotels in close proximity to venues, it's certainly about creating that environment where we are minimising risk of infections and creating a bio-secure environment is the absolute priority. There's a huge amount at stake if we are unable to do that. Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel...it does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into venue,” the CA official added.
The Adelaide Oval, as well as the newly constructed hotel at its premises is the most viable option for CA at the moment, when it comes to hosting the series between the Indian cricket team and Australia.
It would provide the ideal bio-secure bubble, similar to the one that England and West Indies have managed at Southampton and Manchester.
"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes," Nick Hockley added.
“We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols. The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development,” Nick Hockley felt.
The CA official also added that that the hosting of 2021 T20 World cup will be mutually decided by the Cricket Australia and BCCI.
"In terms of 21 versus 22, we just want to see two great events go ahead in India and Australia. If it's 21, then the plans are really, really well progressed so we're really well-placed to deliver that event. If it's 2022, it gives a little more time to create even more certainty around the health situation because I think no one knows how long this is going to last,” Nick Hockley added.
Indian cricket team won their last Test series Down Under
The Indian cricket team are set to play four Tests against the Australians, with the former hoping to build on its 2018-19 series triumph. On that occasion, the Indian cricket team trumped the hosts 2-1, although Australia were missing the services of the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith.
Thus, if the series does come to fruition, it would be interesting to see how the Indian cricket team copes with the challenge and if the Indian cricket team can indeed stamp their authority Down Under.