Cricket Australia (CA) on Tuesday informed that they were committed to host the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test between India and Australia in Adelaide despite a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in South Australia.

South Australia announced the new Covid-19 cluster on Sunday, with the number of cases quickly growing to 17 on Monday.

Following the announcement, the regional governments of Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory decided to close the border. Queensland has made it mandatory for all visitors from Adelaide to undergo a two-week hotel quarantine.

In a statement, Cricket Australia said: “CA continues to monitor the situation in South Australia but remains committed to hosting the first Vodafone Test against India at the Adelaide Oval.”

The Australian board also notified that players and non-playing staff from Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland, who are part of the upcoming limited-overs series, are traveling to Sydney on Tuesday to commence their preparation for the ODI and T20I assignments.

“CA has nonetheless instructed all players to undergo Covid-19 tests, with all results received thus far returning negative,” it added.

Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s interim CEO, said the actions were taken to ensure the summer schedule would not be compromised by recently announced border restrictions.

“CA has taken a pro-active approach and mobilised a number of people across the country over the past 24 hours to shore up our men’s domestic and international schedules. CA will continue to monitor the situation in South Australia and the resulting border restrictions around the country,” Hockley said.

“As ever, we will remain agile in addressing the challenges presented by the pandemic and remain more confident than ever of hosting a safe and successful summer across all formats,” he added.

India’s tour of Australia will kick off with the ODI series from November 27. It will be followed by the three-match T20I series from December 4 before the Virat Kohli-led team begins the title defence of the Border-Gavaskar trophy with the pink-ball Test in Adelaide from December 17.

The first Test at Adelaide will be India’s first day-nigt Test outside home soil. It will also be skipper Virat Kohli’s only appearance in all-whites in Australia this time as he would return to India on a paternity leave after the opener.

Kohli had already informed the BCCI about his wish to return to India to unite with his wife Anushka Sharma. They are expecting their first child in January next year.

The day-night Test will be followed by Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (December 26), the Sydney Cricket Ground (January 7) and the Gabba (January 15).