India questions logic of hard quarantine if crowds are allowed to watch games

A Team India official has complained that they see no reason why the Indians need to be put in quarantine for the remainder of the tour while they get the crowd to the venue. The visitors have stood their ground, saying they want to be treated as “normal Australians” as discussed ahead of the tour.

With a rise in Covid-19 cases in Sydney and with the NSW government making masks and social distancing compulsory for every citizen, there is a chance that the Indian team will not be given any leniency and will be asked to follow a hard quarantine in the team hotel.

While the Indian team have tested negative subsequently, a team official has told Cricbuzz that they don’t want to be treated as “animals in a zoo” where they have to undergo hotel quarantine while 20,000 fans watch them play at the SCG.

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“We think it’s contradictory if you are going to allow fans to come to the ground and enjoy that freedom, and then ask us as performers to go back to the hotel and quarantine. That is especially after we’ve been tested negative for the virus. We don’t want to be treated like we are animals in the zoo,” the source told Cricbuzz.

“It goes back to what we’ve said from the beginning. We want to follow the same rules as every Australian citizen in the country. So, if crowds weren’t allowed inside the ground, then it makes sense for them to ask us to quarantine inside the hotel,” he added.

The official stated that the Cricket Australia medical professionals sent them the information that they “couldn’t leave their respective floors” during their stay in Brisbane which the Indian team immediately said No to.

“We were told by their medical team that we wouldn’t be allowed to leave our respective floors in the hotel. The senior team management immediately said that these conditions weren’t acceptable for us. That’s the last we heard about the matter,” the source said.

“We are not in favour of hotel quarantine and being asked to stay confined indoors, especially at this stage of the tour. We will follow all the protocols that are in place by the government if it means wearing masks while stepping out for a meal or completely avoiding ‘red zones’ and ‘hot spots’,” the source said.

India not happy with five players isolation

Currently, five players were put into isolation and later had to sit away from other players by breaching the bubble in Melbourne by dining indoors on January 1. The team objected the same, especially after all the players test negative for the virus after that.

“The players only went indoors to eat because it started raining. We don’t understand why those five players need to be isolated or be asked to sit separately on the flight, especially after they have tested negative for the virus,” the insider said.

“Our players have made lots of sacrifices on this tour like Mohammad Siraj not being able to go back to attend his father’s funeral. Some of our boys have been inside a bubble for nearly six months and it’s not been easy for anyone,” he added.