BCCI willing to let Indian players undergo 2-week isolation in Australia before Tests

Amidst the ongoing coronavirus crisis and the India lockdown, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has apparently joined hands with Cricket Australia in an attempt to salvage some cricket ‘Down Under’. The Indian team are currently scheduled to travel to Australia for four Test matches later this year. However, the resumption of international cricket is clouded with much uncertainty at the moment as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has halted all immediate cricketing activities.

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BCCI's take on the Australia tour and T20 World Cup

In a recent interview with Sydney Morning Herald, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal stated that the board is willing to let Indian players undergo a two-week quarantine in Australia if the Test series goes ahead as planned. Dhumal said that the resumption of cricket in inevitable and undergoing isolation is something every player must perform. He also believed that two weeks is not that long for a lockdown period but it would give enough time to the board and the players to assess all the “norms” for playing cricket.

Earlier, Cricket Australia were reportedly contemplating to host an additional Test against India in an attempt to remunerate some losses they are suffering during the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking of a proposed five-match series at a single venue, the BCCI official did not rule out the idea for the same. However, the BCCI treasurer indicated that it would be better to host more limited-overs matches instead of an additional Test as the revenue is “most likely” to come from ODIs and T20Is.

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Australia are also scheduled to host a T20 World Cup between October and November this year. Regarding the T20 World Cup, he said that it will be a difficult task to host a global event as teams will not be willing to participate without much training post the lockdown. He added that players will be out of the game for a long time by then and playing a T20 World Cup is a call which “every board has to take”.

India lockdown: Impact on BCCI and IPL 2020

The coronavirus crisis and ongoing India lockdown situation also forced the BCCI to indefinitely postpone the much-awaited IPL 2020 season. IPL 2020 was originally intended to launch on March 29. However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently stated that there are currently no plans of staging any cricketing activities in the country.

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