India keen to avoid Brisbane after prospect of facing another hard bubble restrictions

After the prospect of being isolated once again in Brisbane, India have expressed their reluctance to travel to Queensland for the fourth Test against the Aussies. According to the current itinerary, the Indian team is scheduled to travel to Sydney on Monday (January 4) and start the third Test at the SCG on Thursday (January 7).

Considering the worsening Covid-19 situation in New South Wales, India were set to receive exemptions along with some of the broadcast staff to travel into Queensland on a chartered flight but with Queensland shutting its borders to New South Wales, a hard lockdown on both the teams will be mandatory in Brisbane.

“If you look at it, we were quarantining for 14 days in Dubai before landing in Sydney and doing so for another 14 days. That means we were in a hard bubble for nearly a month before coming out. What we don’t want now is to quarantine again at the end of the tour,” a source in the Indian team told Cricbuzz.

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“We aren’t keen on going to Brisbane if it means being stuck in the hotel again, except for going to the ground. Instead we don’t mind being in some other city, playing both Test matches there to complete the series and returning home,” he added.

Players in Brisbane unlikely to get any special exemption

Cricbuzz further reported that Queensland is highly unlikely to reconsider their own border closure with NSW in time, both the teams will not be given any exemption.

“We understand the complexity of what’s happening currently. Cricket Australia and we have cooperated at every step with regards to following the protocols within the bubble. But we were expecting to be treated in the same vein as ‘normal Australians’ in terms of restrictions once we completed that initial quarantine in Sydney,” the source said.