India's request for shorter quarantine period in Australia likely to be rejected

The request for shorter quarantine period for Team India players in Brisbane by the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is likely to be rejected forcing the Indian players and staff undergo the mandated quarantine phase ahead of their tour of Australia, as per a report.

In the earlier bilateral series hosted by England, visiting players from the West Indies and Pakistan underwent a two-week quarantine period before being allowed to take the field.

"Queensland health officials are set to make cricket''s most powerful nation adhere to strict national protocols, details of which have delayed Cricket Australia announcing a revised schedule for its USD 300 million summer," the daily wrote in its report.

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The BCCI is looking for a reduced quarantine phase and the Indian board wants the players to be allowed to train in a bio-secure bubble rather than being forced inside their hotel rooms as the Indian board thinks it will hamper the fitness of its players.

"We just hope the number of quarantine days get reduced a bit. Because we don''t want the players to go all that far and sit in hotel rooms for two weeks. It is very, very depressing and disappointing. We are looking at that, the quarantine thing," Ganguly had said in July.

The report stated that the BCCI has filed an application while requesting that an extended squad along with staff, coaches and families land in Brisbane after the completion of the ongoing Indian Premier League.

"Queensland Health is currently assessing an application received from the Indian cricket team. We will work directly with the team as the assessment progresses," a QH spokeswoman said.

India are set to travel to Australia with a squad of 23 to 25 playing members across formats. As per reports, white-ball series will be played before the Test series followed by T20I series.

The four-match Test series is slated to start on December 17.