India is scheduled to play 4 Tests, 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is in Australia from Nov 2020- January 2021.
As per reports in Mumbai Mirror, CA is planning to hold the four Tests between Australia and India at four separate venues, different from what was suggested earlier given that COVID-19 cases were increasing in a few places down under. Earlier a CA official had hinted at the possibility of having India matches at fewer centers.
It is further learnt one of the four centers will be the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which will get to host the traditional Boxing Day Test.
Apart from this, a big development is that CA is considering allowing crowds during the Australia-India series. “All venues will have crowds. There may not be full houses, but we will allow fans inside the grounds,” the CA source told this paper.
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The schedule of the tour is yet to be announced, which has increased the intrigue of the venue where the first-ever pink-ball Test between the two nations will be played.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has collected passports of support staff and potential squad members to start the process for travel arrangements. The word is that all the members, once the selection is done, will assemble in Dubai to fly to Australia immediately after the IPL. A chartered flight is being organized.
All the support staff and players who are already not in the UAE for the IPL will be asked to reach Dubai by end of this month and a bubble will be created for them. The idea is to ensure that the quarantine period for the Indian contingent on arrival in Australia is not long.
(Mumbai Mirror inputs)