Tim Paine and Ajinkya Rahane
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has said that India's unwillingness to travel to Brisbane for the fourth Tets might be influenced by the hosts' intimidating record at the venue.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, India do not want to undergo a separate quarantine period apart from the initial 14-day period on landing in Australia. But with reports saying that their movement will be much more restricted upon reaching Brisbane, they've expressed their reluctance on travelling to the Gabba for the fourth and final Test.
"From a cricket point of view, why would India want to go to the Gabba? No one wins at the Gabba, Australia plays really good cricket there and no one's won for a really long time (besides the Aussies). There's a lot of moving parts here. The one thing is these guys have been in a bubble for a long, long time and they might just start to be getting a little bit tired," Haddin told Fox Cricket.
"But you can't move a Test match - if a state doesn't have any virus - just because you're over the quarantine. You came to Australia knowing exactly what was going to happen ... you knew there were restrictions, you knew this could've happened.
Yes, it's been a long time now they've been in quarantine first with IPL and now with the Australian summer. But it's the same with the Australian teams, we haven't heard them whinge and they've just got on with it. To me, it just looks like they're trying not to play at the Gabba," he added.
With reports coming in that the Indian team is not too keen to travel to Queensland, the state’s Health Shadow Minister Ros Bates said: “If the Indians don’t want to play by the rules, don’t come."
Former Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds also commented on the matter while taking a cheeky dig at the Indian board. "Have you ever had any dealings with the BCCI? They seem to have a fair bit of power over people. It comes down to probably what the Queensland government's going to allow them to do ... But I can't see India not getting their way, to be honest with you," Symonds said.
Meanwhile, both the sides are gearing up to play the third Test of the series, scheduled to start from January 7 at the SCG. The four-Test series is currently tied at 1-1 after India bounced back following their Adelaide horror to register a comprehensive eight-wicket victory at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test.
