AUS vs IND: Dark Clouds Loom Over Test Series Opener At Adelaide Post Fresh Covid-19 Outbreak

Australian Test skipper Tim Paine, wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade and other players have been forced to go into self isolation as a preventive step to safe them from the coronavirus outbreak.

D/N Test: Virat Kohli Reveals Team India's Biggest Challenge With 'Pink Ball'/ Photo Courtesy: AFP/ BCCI (Twitter)

Dark clouds are looming over the opening Test of the 4-match Border-Gavaskar  series between India and Australia in Adelaide after a fresh outbreak of Coronavirus was reported in the South Australian city. Australian Test skipper Tim Paine, wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade and other key players majorly from the Tasmanian team have been forced to go into self isolation as a preventive step to safe them from the coronavirus outbreak. A cluster of Covid-19 cases in the Southern Australian city of Adelaide, the venue of the Test series opener between Australia and India, has prompted other states to close their borders with South Australia, said a report in cricket.com.au. Given the new threat posed by the Covid-19 outbreak, the Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory governments have announced border closures with an aim to curb any movement of its citizens into Adelaide. Meanwhile, Queensland has decided to impose a two-week hotel quarantine on all visitors from Adelaide from 11.59pm on Monday. The enforcement of the new rules amidst the fresh Covid-19 threat will witness all Western Australia players self isolating themselves for two weeks and hence the Australian Test skipper Paine, Wade and their team-mates in the Tasmania squad, have gone into isolation. South Australia announced the new Covid-19 cluster on Sunday, with the number of cases quickly growing to 17 on Monday. WATCH | T Natarajan Bowls In India Nets For First Time; 3 Star Players Take Plank Challenge In Latest Gym Session Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has said that it is monitoring the situation. "There is ongoing monitoring but that's the end of the story," a CA spokeswoman was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald on the pink-ball Test. It is notable that the Indian contingent, as well as the Australian cricketers who competed in the recently concluded Indian Premier League in the UAE, are in two-week quarantine in Sydney since last Thursday. The players have been allowed to train after returning negative in their Covid-19 tests. The heavyweights of international cricket will lock horns in three ODIs, 3 T20Is and four Tests, with the series getting underway with the first of the 3-match ODIs scheduled to be played on November 27. The first two ODIs will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground while the third ODI and the first T20I will be played at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. The final two T20Is will then be played at the SCG. Virat Kohli-led Team India will defend the Border Gavaskar trophy in the upcoming 4-match Test series with the pink-ball Day-Night Test in Adelaide from December 17. The series opener will be followed by Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (December 26), the Sydney Cricket Ground (January 7) and the Gabba (January 15).