New Delhi: The BCCI had to intervene with its Australian counterparts after the Indian team complained about the hotel they were put in when they landed Tuesday at Brisbane. The fourth and the final Test of the series will be played at Brisbane beginning January 15. The Indian team were in for a shock as it was lodged at a hotel which ‘lacked basic facilities’. This prompted an intervention from the BCCI top brass.
Sources said BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and CEO Hemang Amin all got in touch with their Cricket Australia after complaints reached them. All the three have been assured that the Indian contingent will be made to feel comfortable from here on. The series is tied 1-1 currently.
“There was no room service or housekeeping facilities. The gym is very basic and not of international standards. The swimming pool can’t be accessed. This wasn’t what they were promised when they checked in,” a senior BCCI source stated here Tuesday on conditions of anonymity.
However, even if the ‘facilities’ will be comfortable henceforth, the Ajinkya Rahane-led team will be put under strict hotel quarantine. This is because there has been a surge in COVID-19 cases in Brisbane.
The source was asked if the players were being allowed to mingle. It is one of the conditions the BCCI had laid down for Brisbane to host the Test. “Yes, they have been provided with a team room and are allowed to meet each other inside the hotel,” the source stated.
When asked whether the team had protested with the hotel authorities, the source said: “When the manager enquired about how these things are not being taken care of, all they said was, ‘the rule applies to both Indian and Australian teams. There is no one team that has been subjected to hard quarantine rules’.
However, the Indian contingent is confident that both Ganguly and Shah will be able to amicably resolve the matter as the injury-ravaged team prepares for the series-decider.