India fine with strict quarantine for Brisbane Test, says Cricket Australia boss

Published
17
India's Shubman Gill (R) leaves the team's hotel in Melbourne on January 4. — AFP
India's Shubman Gill (R) leaves the team's hotel in Melbourne on January 4. — AFP

Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley has dismissed speculation that India is weighing a boycott of the fourth Test in Brisbane over the need to re-enter strict quarantine conditions.

Australian media, citing unnamed sources within India's touring party, reported the team's players would refuse to travel to Brisbane if they were to be subjected to a hard lockdown in Queensland state.

Hockley said the Indian cricket board (BCCI) was “fully across (and) supportive” of quarantine requirements in Queensland.

“We speak to our counterparts at the BCCI daily,” he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

“We've had nothing formal from the BCCI to suggest anything other than they're supportive [...] Both teams have wanted to play the schedule as we've set out.”

The third Test in the four-match series will start at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday, after Cricket Australia decided not to move the match in the wake of an outbreak of Covid-19 in the city. The series is level at 1-1.

Queensland has closed its border with New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, but agreed to let the players travel to Brisbane for the fourth Test on Jan 15, as long as they agree to abide by strict biosecurity protocols.

Five Indian players are under investigation by CA and the BCCI for a potential breach of health protocols after video surfaced of them at a Melbourne restaurant.

The team and BCCI have declined to publicly affirm their support for the Brisbane quarantine plan or comment on the investigation, although the BCCI said in a brief statement on Monday that all players and staff had been cleared of Covid-19.

Australia spin bowler Nathan Lyon called on players from both sides to “stop complaining” about touring in the Covid-19 “bubble”.

“There's a few people from both squads who have been in a bubble for close to six months now but in my eyes it's a very small sacrifice,” he told reporters on Monday.

Opinion

Editorial

Fixing bond markets
01 Oct, 2026

Fixing bond markets

THE plan to deepen the domestic local currency bond market by allowing the public to trade government securities...
Call centre rackets
01 Oct, 2026

Call centre rackets

A NUMBER of recent raids conducted by the authorities in different cities point to the growing threat fraudulent ...
Homeward bound
01 Oct, 2026

Homeward bound

FIVE months after Somali pirates captured an oil tanker carrying a 19-member multinational crew, Somali maritime...
Kashmir unresolved
Updated 30 Sep, 2026

Kashmir unresolved

The just solution lies in India addressing the issue through a trilateral dialogue involving the legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.
Water shortage
30 Sep, 2026

Water shortage

THAT the country is entering the Rabi season with an anticipated water shortage of nearly 25pc, the lowest carryover...
Young hearts
30 Sep, 2026

Young hearts

THE observance may have passed, but the message of World Heart Day should not fade with it. The occasion is a useful...