Australia v India: Gabba Test in limbo as Indians face Friday deadline for answers

The battle over the Gabba Test has reached a flashpoint as frustrated SCG officials set India’s powerful cricket bosses a deadline for a definitive answer.

The Indians are reportedly angry at the quarantine measures they are set to face in Brisbane. Picture: AFP

India’s whispering campaign to boycott the Brisbane Test has reached flashpoint, with SCG groundsmen needing to know Friday if they’re required to save the $300 million series.

Cricket Australia on Thursday held productive crisis talks with their BCCI counterparts and remain confident that the mysterious threats to blow up the tour coming from within the Indian camp are not necessarily going to be backed by the big bosses.

It is understood, India has concerns that Queensland might pull the rug from underneath them and force them into a more stringent hotel lockdown than what they signed off on last week.

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The Indians are reportedly angry at the quarantine measures they are set to face in Brisbane. Picture: AFP

The Indians don’t want to walk into an environment where police are roaming floors of the hotel and worry Queensland could change their minds as they did in November when they refused to allow the Indians to quarantine.

However, CA interim chief executive Nick Hockley has reassured them that Queensland Health has signed off on the protocols and that players will be free to roam around the quarantine hotel as promised – without a police presence inside the hotel – and will not be confined to their rooms.

Until BCCI heavies in Mumbai can guarantee to CA bosses they will not back-flip, the Gabba Test remains in doubt.

CA said the talks appear positive but they need a line to be drawn under the ongoing saga as a matter of urgency and for the rumblings to be put to bed once and for all.

■ CRASH CRADDOCK: Indians have a point in Gabba stand-off

Reports out of India have even suggested one extreme option being considered by Ravi Shastri’s team could be to refuse to play a fourth Test altogether and sensationally fly home.

But even if that seems unrealistic, the series is balancing on a knife’s edge.

Time is running out for Sydney officials to prepare an emergency back-up pitch should a Gabba boycott become official.

SCG curator Adam Lewis told News Corp on Sunday he could get a second wicket up by rejuvenating a strip used for a tour game against the Indians last month.

But on match-eve Lewis said he was no longer working on the possibility of a second deck – and it’s understood the SCG would now need to know tomorrow if they are being relied upon to produce a rescue surface.

Cricket Australia on Thursday denied reports claiming the Indians have already sent them correspondence advising of their opposition to flying to Brisbane and submitting to Government quarantine.

They say they’ve heard nothing from the BCCI big wigs since the rumblings of discontent first started last Sunday.

Australian captain Tim Paine took a dig at the Indians’ unchallenged power in cricket. Picture: Getty Images

Australian captain Tim Paine summed up the ominous feel about the mysterious stand-off when he declared on Wednesday “where there’s smoke, there is usually fire” with the all-powerful BCCI.

India has the money and clout to hold other countries to ransom, but it would be an extraordinary power play to refuse to travel to Queensland when the quarantine conditions being proposed are no different to what the team is currently living under at their hotel in

Sydney, and they would only have two and a half days in the State anyway before the last Test begins.

The only difference is Queensland’s bubble conditions are Government enforced, and Indian sources say the team wants guarantees in writing from CA and the Queensland Government that they won’t be confined to their rooms or floors when they get to Brisbane.

Former Test fast bowler and ABC expert Stuart Clark on Thursday questioned how much India’s reluctance to play at the Gabba might be motivating the circus playing out behind the scenes.

India captain Ajinkya Rahane, speaking with Cheteshwar Pujara, has refused to guarantee his side willtravel to Brisbane. Picture: AFP

CA is determined to carry out the summer schedule as planned and are currently chasing an official answer from the BCCI on where they stand.

It’s understood India has been spooked by the realisation that they have precious little time after this series to recover from bubble life, before they’re thrust into another one for a five-Test series against England.

Team sources are furious that the public in Sydney has freedom and they don’t.

Sources have said they don’t want to be treated like “caged animals”, even though being confined to a hotel is not unusual for international cricketers, particularly in India where the spotlight is so intense.

Queensland is set to keep its border to NSW shut, ruling out any chance of quarantine requirements being relaxed.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk won’t review borders until the end of January.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was expected to consider opening the border, but instead that review has been delayed until the end of January.

Meanwhile, the development that a Queensland COVID-hotel cleaner has contracted the virus could impact on crowds at the Gabba, should the Test go ahead.

The positive case has put Queensland back on high alert, with the state unable to commit to allowing a capacity crowd at the Gabba when the Test begins next Friday.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young laid down the law to an agitated Board of Control for Cricket in India, which does not want to be confined to a Brisbane hotel.

“My rules are the standard rules I’ve used for sporting teams right from the start, and they’ve worked very successfully for us, so that’s what we’ll continue to do,” Dr Young said on Thursday.

“That’s (India agreeing to come to Brisbane) something between Cricket Australian and the Indian cricket board for them to work through.”

Originally published as Australia v India: Gabba Test in limbo as Indians face Friday deadline for answers