CHENNAI: Other than cricketers and fans, who are keen to end their wait for a marquee series, the upcoming India-Australia showdown is of immense importance to Cricket Australia (CA). This is a lifeline of sorts for a cricket board, which suffered possibly the most due to the pandemic. Three T20Is, as many ODIs and four Tests provide CA an opportunity to recover from financial instability and officials are leaving no stone unturned to deliver a safe series.
Talking to the Indian media in an online interaction on Tuesday, CA CEO Nick Hockley didn't divulge figures but said a huge amount is being spent to ensure that travel, stay and training of the teams go ahead without hassles in a secured environment. "It's been a complex exercise, movement of the Indian team and Australians who played in the IPL, from UAE to Australia. I won't go into numbers, but additional measures run into several million dollars."
About what this series means to CA, Hockley said: "This series is of great importance to world and Australian cricket. One of the features of the pandemic has been how the cricketing community supported each other. We went to England (in September) and we thank BCCI for making this happen. It's a testament to how all cricketing countries came together to ensure international cricket is back running in a safe way."
Asked if Virat Kohli's early departure from Australia for the birth of his first child would have any financial impact on the series, Hockley answered in the negative and added that there has been no discussion on him coming back for the fourth Test, which is unlikely.
"He will be leading the team in the T20Is, ODIs and the first Test. He brings competitive leadership, something that we have seen in the last India-Australia series and got accustomed to watching. But it (Kohli's departure) will not have a financial bearing on the series... There has been no discussion on him returning."
The CA is obviously relieved that the COVID-19 situation in Australia is better than many other parts of the world. Although at 50 per cent capacity of the venues, spectators will be allowed in the series. Recently, inter-state movement has resumed, which means they can travel to attend the matches.
"Thankfully, there has been negligible community transmission. In Melbourne after the second wave, there have been zero cases for the last 28 days. We have worked closely with the state governments. The risk rating is pretty low at the moment. There are contingency plans for everything. And now that borders (inter-state) have opened up, we are hopeful that the series will be played in front of large crowds."
India-Australia series live on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3 & Sony Six from November 27