India vs Australia: Brisbane Test on Schedule But Indian Players Want More Freedom of Movement - Report

The final Test of the ongoing Test series between India and Australia will take place in Brisbane as originally planned, a BCCI official confirmed. However, Indian cricketers are currently not keen on travelling to Queensland as they will be subjected to harsher restrictions on their movement that includes a hard quarantine when not in training. While the players have all been in bio-secure bubbles during the ongoing series, they have been allowed to move around in certain parts of their hotels. This won't be the case at Brisbane as they will have to be confined to their hotel rooms when not at practice.

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“The team will travel to Brisbane. We will have to follow rules. We may discuss allowing a little more freedom for the players, but it all depends on what local authorities decide finally,” an official confirmed to Indian Express.

Another source confirmed to the newspaper that the Board is currently trying to come to some sort of an agreement regarding the type of quarantine that will need to be put in place.

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“Each city in Australia has its own quarantine rules. In Sydney, the team has been granted permission to go to designated areas in the hotel after training. In Brisbane, however, the rules are much more stringent as players will be restricted to their hotel rooms when not training or playing. This is something they’re not comfortable with since this team has already completed the mandatory period in isolation upon landing in Australia,” a source told the newspaper.

“BCCI is currently negotiating with Cricket Australia to come to an agreement regarding the nature of quarantine that needs to be put in place,” the source added.

Meanwhile, the Indian cricket team and support start underwent an RT-PCR Test for Covid-19 on January 3 and the tests have returned negative results, the BCCI said on Monday, amid media scrutiny stemmed from the apparent quarantine breach by five Indian cricketers in Melbourne last week.

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The team along with the Australian contingent will fly to Sydney today for the third Test starting January 7. "Playing members of the Indian Cricket Team and support staff underwent an RT-PCR Test for Covid-19 on January 3, 2021. All tests have returned negative results," the BCCI said.

The four-test series between Australia and India is being played amid a backdrop of biosecurity rules, which will get stricter when the squads travel to Sydney on Monday.

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