The Indian players are set to stay with their family members during their long tour of Australia. As per The Indian Express, their wives and kids will stay with them for the complete duration of the series. The BCCI has assured players that their family members can travel to Australia. Given the restrictions, mandatory isolation period and other reasons, the BCCI wasn’t confident of allowing the players to travel with their family members.
It’s a big logical issue for any board to create the bio-bubble environment for the jumbo squad, coaching staff and their family members. But the report adds that the BCCI gave a green signal after senior players requested the board. It is to be noted that the BCCI had left it to the IPL franchises to take a call on whether the family members can travel to UAE or not.
While Chennai Super Kings did not allow the family members of the players to travel to UAE, the members of Mumbai Indians have travelled with their wives and kids for the complete duration of the T20 league. Anushka Sharma, the wife of Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli, is also in UAE. Kohli didn’t travel to Bengaluru and instead boarded a chartered plane to Dubai from Mumbai.
The BCCI has had a different stance on occasions when it comes to family members. The board kept WAGS away for a part of the England tour in 2018 while in Australia, the family members of players and coaches were spotted celebrating after Team India’s historic Test series win Down Under. During the 2019 World Cup, BCCI allowed WAGS to land in the camp after 21 days.
The players and family members will fly to Australia soon after the completion of IPL 2020. They will stay in isolation for 14 days. After one week, the players will be allowed to train. As has been the case in UAE, they might also undergo rounds of testing during the isolation period.
The white-ball players will return to India after the first leg of the tour. The Test players are travelling to Australia right from day 1 and will stay there for over 75 days.
The three ODIs will be played on November 27, 29 and December 1. The two teams will next lock horns in three T20Is on December 6, 4 and 8. The four-match Test series will take place from December 17 to January 19.
