9/10 chance of India series taking place, attests Kevin Roberts
Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts is upbeat about India’s tour of Australia taking place towards the latter half of the year and believes that there is a 9/10 chance of the series going ahead. Furthermore, Roberts also suggested that the series could very well happen in front of spectators.
With Australia showing immense progress and success in curtailing the Covid-19 curve, India’s tour of Australia that is scheduled to take place in November is widely been regarded as the most realistic option to restart cricket post normalcy, given the logistics and complications involved would be way simpler than the World T20 and the IPL. BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal, too, last week, suggested that the likelihood of the series going ahead is high, adding that the touring Indian side might even undergo a quarantine period just to ensure utmost safety.
Now, in what comes as great news for cricket fans across the world, Cricket Australia (CA) chief Kevin Roberts has sounded confident about the possibility of India’s tour of Australia going ahead and believes that there is a 9/10 chance of the series going ahead.
"I guess there's no such thing as certainty in today's world so I can't say 10 (out of 10), but I'm going to say nine out of 10," Roberts was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Interestingly, the 47-year-old also suggested that there might be a slender chance of the series taking place in front of a packed crowd. As things stand, sporting authorities have been strictly asked to prohibit fans from entering stadiums, keeping the safety of the public in mind, in order to curb the spread of the virus.
"With the variable being, who would know whether we can have crowds ... I'd be really surprised if we can't get the Indian tour away. But I wouldn't, hand on heart suggest we'll have full crowds from the start. We'll just have to see how that goes."
India series aside, the Aussies were also scheduled to tour the UK for a bunch of limited-over games against England and Scotland, and Roberts indicated that CA would consider sending the side if the situation improves. The CA chief admitted that the board’s decision might depend on how the success of the tours that precede the Australia series - West Indies and Pakistan’s tour of England.
"I think there's some chance we could send a team over. Obviously we won't jeopardise the safety of the players, but the best test of that is the West Indian and Pakistan tours of England before we're due to tour. We hope they go off without a hitch."