The first Test of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy has come under shadow as Australian players, including Test captain Tim Paine and Matthew Wade, have been forced to go into self isolation following a fresh coronavirus outbreak.
A cluster of Covid-19 cases in Adelaide, the venue of the first Test between Australia and India, has prompted other states to close their borders with South Australia, said a report in cricket.com.au.
The governments of Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have announced border closures, with Queensland to impose a two-week hotel quarantine on all visitors from Adelaide from 11.59pm on Monday.
The rules mean all that Western Australia players, who took part in the recent Marsh Sheffield Shield rounds in Adelaide, must now self-isolate for two weeks and so Paine, Wade and their team-mates in the Tasmania squad, have gone into isolation.
South Australia announced the new Covid-19 cluster on Sunday, with the number of cases quickly growing to 17 on Monday.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has said that it is monitoring the situation. "There is ongoing monitoring but that's the end of the story," a CA spokeswoman was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald on the pink-ball Test.
"There is always a bit more tension when a player is as good as he is, it's the same when you play against England, its Joe Root or a Ben Stokes," Paine said.
"It's often the best player against whom your team goes up a little bit, the intensity goes up when the best players in the world come out to the crease."
Last year, India had stunned Australia 2-1 to win their maiden Test series Down Under and Paine feels the rivalry between the two sides intensifies with every passing series.
"I'm looking forward to everything, to be honest, it's a huge series. They beat us here last time obviously with a different team, and as I said the rivalry between the two countries building all the time...," Paine said.
"I think any time you get to test yourself against the best is something that you look forward to as players and as a team, and we certainly are."
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