BCCI President Sourav Ganguly wants a shorter than mandated quarantine period for the Indian team when it travels to Australia for a Test series this year as “we don’t need the players to travel that far and sit in hotel rooms for 2 weeks”.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the principles of the sport, which restarted with the continued Test series between England and therefore the West Indies. Players need to be in quarantine for 2 weeks and be tested for the virus before they will take the sector in empty stadiums for now.
But Ganguly is hoping that the Indian team will get some relaxation during its tour of Australia, comprising four Tests, including a day-nighter, later within the year.
“…we have confirmed that tour. In December we’ll be coming. We just hope the amount of quarantine days get reduced a touch,” Ganguly told India Today show ‘The Inspiration’.
“Because we do not want the players to travel all that far and sit in hotel rooms for 2 weeks. it’s very, very depressing and disappointing. We are watching that, the quarantine thing,” he said.
“And, as I said Australia and New Zealand are in good position except Melbourne. So from that time of view we’ll be going there and hopefully the quarantine days are going to be less and that we can revisit to cricket.”
Australia has over 9,000 confirmed cases and quite 7500 of them have recovered. the amount of fatalities stands at 107.
Ganguly also said that the Australia series are going to be career-defining for skipper Virat Kohli.
“My presidentship tenure, i do not know whether i will be able to survive by this December or not. But his captaincy tenure goes to be a yardstick. this may be a milestone series.
“I are in-tuned with him, telling him ‘you have gotten to remain fit. You haven’t played cricket for 6 months…,” he said.
“You have gotten to form sure your best bowlers are ready for the tour and fit. Whether it’s (Mohammed) Shami, whether it’s (Jasprit) Bumrah, whether it’s Ishant, whether it’s Pandya, they need to be at the highest of their match fitness once they land in Australia,” he added.
The former India captain also spoke about the various challenges that he has encountered in ensuring that the Board continues to function amid the pandemic.
“This is unreal. For four months, we’ve not been to the office in Mumbai. this is often my seventh or eighth month as BCCI president out of which four months are removed by COVID,” he said.
“So we’ve been performing on video conferencing but that is what it’s I cannot change it. I even have to simply accept it and check out and do the simplest I can during this situation.”
Asked about the BCCI petition within the Supreme Court which seeks an extension of tenure for him and Secretary Jay Shah, Ganguly said, “I do not know whether we’ll get an extension or not. If we do not , we don’t, I advance to something else.”
