Ind v Aus 2020: Tim Paine, Marnus Labuschagne airlifted into NSW following second wave of COVID-19

Australia have moved to avoid having to disrupt the upcoming series against India by airlifting a number of key players into New South Wales.

Following a new wave of COVID-19 cases in South Australia, a number of border restrictions were imposed on the state.

So a number of Test stars including captain Tim Paine, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Wade, Travis Head and Cameron Green have had to be airlifted to avoid any potential issues imposed by the pandemic.

"CA has taken a proactive approach and mobilised a number of people across the country over the past 24 hours to shore up our men's domestic and international schedules. I would like to thank the players and staff for their understanding regarding the changes to their travel schedules and for their commitment to ensuring the summer of cricket is a huge success," Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said.

The players and staff members from BBL franchise Adelaide Strikers, South Australia based players, as well as the Australia A players were also airlifted as part of the contingency plan of Cricket Australia.

This was done to ensure that the players can continue to prepare for the upcoming summer of cricket without having to worry about any border restrictions.

State governments of Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania have closed their borders with South Australia, and imposed a 14-day quarantine on all visitors from Adelaide. So the airlift will ensure that there isn't any disruption to Australia's preparations for India and the upcoming schedule.

Cricket Australia maintain that Adelaide will host the first Test of the India versus Australia series, but add that they will remain agile to ensure challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic do not affect the highly awaited series.

The day-night Test is due to begin on December 17. Before that, Australia and India will take part in three ODIs and three T20Is.