India’s tour of Australia, which will include three ODIs, three Twenty20 Internationals and four Tests, is all set to commence from November end to January. This will be the Indian cricket team’s first major international tour ever since the New Zealand series in February and March. Looking at the coronavirus situation, cricket and the players have had to adapt to the ‘new normal’. Taking this initiative forward, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to send a massive 32-player contingent for the series Down Under. According to a report in the Indian Express, the BCCI selection committee has been told to pick a large squad in order to have a back-up for players who are injured.
The BCCI selection committee is going to meet later in the week to announce the squads for all three formats in the tour to Australia. However, the Indian Express reported has stated that apart from players, there will be a strong group of support staff that will accompany them but families will not be allowed. In IPL 2020, which is being held in Dubai, the BCCI left it to the franchises to decide whether they can get their family to be with them.
A senior BCCI official told the Indian Express that the large pool of players will be selected so that there is no need for a member to come flying from India as the travel restrictions in Australia will make availability and logistics very difficult.
The coronavirus situation in Australia is critical and they have not been able to flatten the curve. Melbourne is the worst-affected in the country and it looks like there will be no action this year at the venue. The coronavirus quarantine protocols in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria are different. In most states, the teams that enter will have to be in total isolated quarantine while in states like New South Wales, where Sydney is, teams have to be in quarantine but they can practice. This is probably the reason why Sydney and Canberra are the options for the ODIs and T20Is.
Earlier, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed that Cricket Australia had sent him the itinerary but the dates were not confirmed. India will play a Pink Ball Test but the venue is not confirmed. There is every probability that the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne will not be played due to the COVID situation in Victoria.