Halt the histrionics, cricket is in India’s debt

Australian cricket owes the Indians a large debt for the extraordinary efforts taken by players and coaches to conduct this tour.

India's captain Virat Kohli congratulates Australia's captain Tim Paine before heading home for the birth of his first child Picture: AFP

In February 1961 the Melbourne public turned out to farewell the visiting West Indies side and thank them for what had been a wonderful series.

Nobody is suggesting the same happen with the Indians this time — crowds would be problematic given all the you-know-what going on — but the Australian public and Australian cricket owe the visiting squad and its board a debt of gratitude.

Had this tour not happened there would be a hole in cricket’s already strained finances of about $300m.

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It has been hard work for visitors and locals alike who were subject to quarantine requirements in the UAE before departure and two weeks quarantine on arrival.

Initially the BCCI insisted on seven days only, but they relented as Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland denied them entry.

NSW came to the party at the last minute and the teams were allowed to train but had to return to their hotels for the first 14 days.

The team was very clear that it would do this but there would be no more quarantine on the tour. It was not a result of being difficult so much as of being concerned for the mental health of their players.

They accepted conditions that were loose, but not too onerous.

Trust me, both teams are struggling with the length of time they have spent in bubbles.

The sacrifices are not to be sneered at. Mohammed Siraj missed his father’s funeral when in ordinary circumstance he could have attended and returned in time to make his debut at the MCG.

Thangarasu Natarajan has missed the birth of his child.

Virat Kohli has been forced to miss three Tests because he attended the birth of his.

Steve Smith was separated from his wife for 120-odd days. Tim Paine has had a truncated interaction with his wife and three small children.

Partners and children would generally accompany players as Australia is one of the Indian cricketer’s favourite destinations, but this has not been possible.

The cynics will indignate (yes, it’s an invented word) and sneer and talk of money and other motives, but few of these players needed the money. They all earn more in the IPL than they do for their months so far from home.

You can’t expect much but populist bellowing from state oppositions these days and that’s exactly what Queensland’s Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mander provided when he bellowed that the Indians had spat the dummy. Please mate.

When team management was told about the suggestion they would be confined to hotel rooms for the Gabba Test the response was instant and without agenda.

They have had enough. So have the Australians.

It’s like asking somebody on the last leg of a marathon to carry a bag. It’s one straw too many for this collective donkey.

Voluntary quarantine is a big ask, especially when they add another period of it.

Broadcasters have baulked at sending crews into NSW for the Sydney Test out of a sense of care for employees who will have to spend two weeks in quarantine when their work is done before returning home.

And that’s only for one Test.

It is true India have been less than gracious visitors in the past and threatened to go home during Monkeygate, but relations between the boards are much more civil now and the conduct less emotionally driven.

I will also note that there is nothing the Indians have done in recent times that the Australians have not done in the past. Power was wielded similarly, if not more vigorously, and behaviours on Indian tours were at time embarrassing.

That is the past and this situation should not be viewed through that prism.

Five Indian players are under investigation for breaching biosecurity rules. It’s a minor breach but a serious matter given the world we live in.

It’s also an understandable dropping of the guard. It has happened in all the local sports, it has happened in the BBL, it will happen again.

Players are tired and a little entitled, but let anybody who hasn’t made a minor breach of COVID-19 guidelines in the past 10 months cast the first stone.

People cannot be too harsh on young men who see the rest of the world going about their business with impunity.

Some might argue it risks a multimillion dollar tour and they would be right, but any breach risks lives.

How many stories have we read about far more irresponsible acts from our fellow citizens: couples running out of airports, conspiracy theorists and freedom warriors rallying in the streets, Karens of both sexes abusing shop officials?

The Indians have provided us with a limited-overs series and two brilliant Tests thus far. Do not lose sight of that.

Australia needs to learn to treat its visitors as honoured guests and drop the hostility. Cricket fans sometimes sound like the xenophobes who see migrants as people who have come for their jobs and tourists as an inconvenience.