Indian cricketers denied housekeeping services at Brisbane hotel

Brisbane: The Indian cricket board is in talks with hosts Cricket Australia (CA) to allow the Indian cricket team leeway after the Indian cricketers checked in at the Sofitel Brisbane Central hotel to a ‘Do It Yourself (DIY)’ directive that denied them housekeeping services.

The directives also denied them the use of the swimming pool as Queensland, of which Brisbane is the capital, seeks to avoid community transmission of Covid-19. A couple of areas in Brisbane have, in fact, been declared as hotspot areas.

A official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed to IANS that the team, which reached Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon, has been denied housekeeping, room service and the use of the swimming pool.

“The BCCI is in talks with CA over the matter,” said the official, hoping that the issue will be resolved.

There was speculation that India wouldn’t travel to Brisbane, though there was no official statement from either the BCCI or CA on this isssue.

Both teams are being subjected to strict quarantine rules as they have arrived in Queensland from Sydney in New South Wales, which saw a rise in Covid-19 cases recently.

The state of Queensland saw a few Covid-19 cases in recent days which makes the precautions and a demand for hard quarantine understandable.

“Queensland has recorded one new local Covid-19 case and two in hotel quarantine while two Brisbane locations remain on high alert after they were visited by a man with the highly contagious UK strain,” said a report on Channel 9 news website.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that the state has 28 active cases.

(IANS)