Australia vs India: SCG reduced the number of fans to 25% after fresh Covid-19 cases.

Australia vs India: The number of fans has been reduced to 25% in the SCG after fresh Covid-19 cases were recorded in the city. The government of New South Wales advised the officials to take the steps to maintain the necessary social distancing during the play.

It is estimated that approximately 9,500 fans will be allowed inside the stadium at a time in the third test match in Sydney Cricket Ground. Earlier the tickets were sold to about 50% of its seating capacity. Sydney Cricket Ground can host 38,000 fans at a time.

“It is important for us to take the necessary steps. Reducing the number of people watching live-action is crucial in attaining social distancing measures and Cricket Australia thanks all the ticket-holders for their patience, as we process the refunds today. The officials will re-consider the seating arrangement to properly maintain the distance from one another and will get back on sale soon,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said.

Sydney has previously hosted two ODIs and same the number of T20Is during the respective series.

The ground hosted 18,000 fans in the first three games here and later when the restriction were eased by the government for the final T20I, the number of spectators reached 30,000.

The tickets will be on sale again once we process all the refund process. There will be an exclusive window for the peoples who previously brought the tickets. 5 pm on Monday will be the opening time of the reselling of tickets through to 12 pm on Tuesday. All remaining public tickets will be released at 12 pm on Tuesday.

“In response to the public health situation in NSW, we are working closely with Venues NSW and NSW Health to put appropriate bio-security measures in place for our staff, players, match officials, broadcasters, and fans to ensure we play the third Test at the SCG safely.”

“We are keen on ensuring the safety of our players, and other members along with the fans watching the game. Cricket Australia will take every possible step to enure the safe conclusion of the series.”

ALSO READ: Australia vs India: James Pattinson ruled out of the third test match due to bruised ribs
ALSO READ: Australia vs India: India do not want to play at Brisbane as no one wins there besides Aussies, says Brad Haddin

Australia vs India: James Pattinson ruled out of the third test match due to bruised ribs.

Australia vs India: The hosts senior pacer James Pattinson has been ruled out of the third test match due to the bruised ribs, Cricket Australia informed on Monday in the press release.

The third test between Australia and India is scheduled from 7th January to 11th January at Sydney Cricket Ground. The Indian team was reported to have reached the destination in the meantime.

“Australian pacer James Pattinson will not be available for the third Sydney Test match between Australia and India due to bruised ribs,” Cricket Australia said on Monday.

It is learned that the pacer fell in his home that caused him some injuries in his ribs. The replacement is yet not called and Cricket Australia will assess things further.

No replacement for Pattinson:

“He will not be replaced in the squad and will be assessed further ahead of the Brisbane Test match,” CA added.

With James Pattinson getting rest as he is injured for the third test match of the four-match series, Michael Neser has only all-rounder Sean Abbott to compete with. Neser was seen a couple of times in the field during the second Melbourne Test as the substitute fielder.

Pattinson was seen in action against India in the last practice game between India A and Australia A. He then took three wickets from his side.

The speedster has amassed 81 scalps in his 21 outings in Test Cricket for Australia with an average of 26.33. He last featured against New Zealand during the series.

James Pattinson was not the part of the playing XI for Australia in the first two test matches and was unlikely to break into the final XI in the Sydney Test as the combination of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon has done well for the Aussies in the past.

ALSO READ: Australia vs India: India do not want to play at Brisbane as no one wins there besides Aussies, says Brad Haddin
ALSO READ: Australia vs India: Team India tested negative in the latest RT-PCR testings

Australia vs India: India do not want to play at Brisbane as no one wins there besides Aussies, says Brad Haddin.

Australia vs India: Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin jumped into the heated controversy of the fourth Brisbane test says India does not want to play there as no one wins there besides Aussies. The hosts have an impeccable record in the historic Brisbane’s Gaba.

According to the reports, some players of the Indian team has shown reluctance to travel to Brisbane if they have to undergo the same quarantine at the end of the tour.

Former Australian cricketer backed Australia’s decision to schedule the fourth test at Gaba besides strict quarantine rules.

No one besides Aussies wins at Brisbane says Brad Haddin:

“From what I feel, from a cricket point of view, Why would someone travel to a place where no one gets a win? Why would India go there? Australia has such an impeccable record in Brisbane. No one even gets close to winning the game besides Australia. Gaba is so much movement. One thing is these guys have been into quarantine for a long long time and they might get just tired if they go to the strict rules again,” Haddin told to Fox Cricket.

“But a test game on a whole can’t be moved. You must be tired of the strict rules but this is the demand of the hour. You come to Australia knowing the conditions, everyone knew there are going to be hard restrictions, everyone knew that this could happen thanks to the pandemic. Yes, it is true that these guys have been in quarantine for a long time, first with IPL and then in Australian summers. But the rules are the same for Australia too, we haven’t heard them complaining. To me, it looks like these guys are playing safe and don’t want to go Gaba and play in these conditions,” Haddin added.

With the recent reports coming that the visitors contingent is not willing to travel to Queensland if the hard rules and protocols are to be followed again at the end of the tour. The government official of Queensland bluntly said that the rules are meant to be followed no matter what.

Apart from that, the Health Minister even said that “India should not come here if they are not willing to keep with the protocols and rules set by the government.”

ALSO READ: Australia vs India: Team India tested negative in the latest RT-PCR testings
ALSO READ: Australia vs India: Not many of Natarajan’s slow balls and yorkers will be helpful in Test says Natarajan’s coach

Australia vs India: Team India tested negative in the latest RT-PCR testing’s.

Australia vs India: After the recent round of coronavirus testing done in Australia, all the members of the visitor’s side tested negative for the virus. The latest RT-PCR testing done on 3rd January revealed that all the members of India are safe and are all set to fly to Sydney.

“Playing members of the Indian Cricket Team and support staff underwent an RT-PCR Test for Covid-19 on January 3, 2021. All tests have returned negative results,” Bcci said in its media release.

However, the investigation surrounding five Indian players including Rohit Sharma for the possible breach of bio-security protocol is still on. Cricket Australia (CA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are jointly probing into the matter after the incident took place.

Team India will fly to Sydney:

Team India with all the players is all set to fly to Sydney in the same chartered flight on Monday.

Team India vice-captain Rohit Sharma, Opener Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and pacer Navdeep Saini landed themselves into the controversy after a fan spotted them at the restaurant and paid the bill without seeking cricketers permission.

The BCCI official said in the statement that, “all the involved players will travel with the whole squad no matter what. Cricket Australia has not directly said it’s a breach, they said they are finding if it is a breach or not.”

In the meantime, the fourth test between India and Australia is on hold as some of the Indian cricketers showed their reluctance in traveling to Brisbane due to the strict quarantine rules of the city.

However, it is learned that the series will go as per the schedule and the senior BCCI officials are ready to play the fourth and final Test at Brisbane’s Gaba from January 15th.

ALSO READ: Australia vs India: Not many of Natarajan’s slow balls and yorkers will be helpful in Test says Natarajan’s coach
ALSO READ: Team India to travel to Sydney together including five isolated players

Team India to travel to Sydney together including five isolated players.

Australia vs India: Team India along with the five isolated players are scheduled to travel to Sydney together by a chartered flight for the third test match. The five Indian players including newly elected vice-captain Rohit Sharma, opener Shubman Gill, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, seamer Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw were put under managed isolation due to a possible breach of bio-secure protocol.

The group of five Indian cricketers has not been restricted to travel for the third test despite BCCI and Cricket Australia have launched the investigation.

The reports suggest that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) jointly have started the probe into the matter involving Indian player’s possible breach of covid-19 protocols.

Cricket Australia in the press release said it is investigating the matter jointly with BCCI after the fan posted the video of the five Indian cricketers were seen sitting inside the restaurant.

CA never said, it’s a breach:

“If you carefully read the CA statement, they never said that it’s a breach. They said that they are seeking to determine if it’s a breach.“

“All the players will travel together to Sydney as there is no restriction on them. The entire contingent is scheduled to board on a chartered flight tomorrow afternoon.” BCCI official told PTI.

The person who shot the video lied about Rishabh Pant hugging him and later rectified his statement as he said it for publicity.

“The gentlemen shot the video without seeking permission, then paid the bill which no one asked him to do so, and then for the publicity put the screenshot of the bill over social media,” the BCCI official told.

The BCCI official also said that the administrative manager of BCCI will be the key person for the investigation.

Administrative Manager Girish Dongre is responsible for keeping all the players on the same page of Covid-19 protocols and restrictions. He is the one who will inform all the players about the rules and regulations.

“The players are not supposed to keep the sheet of protocols with them every time or remember every fine statement written on the sheet,” another BCCI official told.

“There is the official team of peoples who are responsible to ensure that every rule and regulations are being followed or not. In that case, it is Dongre’s duty to inform the cricketer’s whether it is allowed to go indoors or not,” BCCI official.

ALSO READ: Australia vs India: Rahane is born to lead the cricket teams, says Ian Chappell.
ALSO READ: Arjun Tendulkar added to Mumbai Squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21.