Ensure India leaves Brisbane immediately after 4th Test ends, BCCI tells CA

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed CA about the domino effect that the Brisbane quarantine might have on the England series and told them to arrange a flight immediately back home just after the conclusion of the fourth Test.

Brisbane was pushed into a three-day hard lockdown after the new mutant UK strain of the virus was detected in the city and the situation is such that it could throw a spanner in the works for the final Test of the series.

The BCCI formally wrote a letter to the CA board, asking them to arrange a flight back home immediately after the Test ends and ensure that the team doesn’t even stay back for a night once the Test ends.

“The Indian team will play the fourth Test in Brisbane. But BCCI has told CA that arrangements for the team’s return to India should be made in a way that the team doesn’t have to stay back unnecessarily after the Test ends.

“The team’s departure should be immediate. If possible, they should cut out even the possibility of an overnight stay. The first flight back should be arranged. This is besides the request to allow the players to move freely in the hotel,” a senior BCCI official said on Saturday, reported Times of India.

Brisbane lockdown puts the BBL teams in Gold Coast

After the infection in Brisbane, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced new travel measures which resulted in Big Bash League teams, Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat, being confined to their hotels at Gold Coast since the three-day lockdown was announced. CA is working out the logistics for the fourth Test in the process.

“We never objected to playing in Brisbane or any health protocol. The Test is very much on. At the moment, CA is working out the logistics with the local government and getting clarity on the three-day lockdown imposed in Queensland,” the board official added.

The fourth Test is set to begin on January 15 after which the Indian team will play England.