It has been confirmed by both BCCI and Cricket Australia that the cricket teams of both the countries will be facing each other later this year. Virat Kohli and Co will be touring Australia to defend the Border-Gavaskar trophy in December against the hosts, who have David Warner and Steve Smith back in the team. With Covid-19 still a constant presence around the world, the visitors will have to go through a mandatory quarantine period.
Before the start of the series, West Indies squad had to spend 14 days in quarantine after landing in England on June 9 for the three-Test tour, that began on July 8, marking the return of international cricket.
However, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said on Saturday that he wants a shortened quarantine period for the Indian players while confirming the series against Australia. Australia has checked the spread of the coronavirus except in Melbourne, its second-biggest city, which has witnessed a recent surge in cases. “Ya, ya, we have confirmed that tour. In December we will be coming. We just hope the number of quarantine days get reduced a bit, Ganguly told TV channel India Today.
“And, as I said Australia and New Zealand have been in good position except Melbourne. So from that point of view we will be going there and hopefully the quarantine days will be less and we can get back to cricket.”
By Friday, Australia, a nation of 25 million, had recorded just more than 9,000 COVID-19 cases, 106 of them fatal. The West Indies squad spent 14 days in quarantine after landing in England on June 9 for the three-Test tour, that began on July 8, marking the return of international cricket.
