Australia's series against India shifted to Queensland

India's upcoming tour of Australia will be played entirely in Queensland due to the ongoing lockdowns and border closures in NSW and Victoria.

The seven-game CommBank Series featuring three ODIs, one Test match and three T20s had been scheduled to begin in Sydney on September 19 before moving to Melbourne and Perth and then returning to the harbour city.

But given the current difficulty moving between states, Cricket Australia has instead shifted the series to Queensland, with matches to be played in Mackay and on the Gold Coast.

India's 22-player squad departed Bengaluru on Sunday evening and will complete two weeks of quarantine, which is a current federal government requirement for all international arrivals in Australia.

Two-thirds of Australia's 18-player squad will also be required to quarantine for two weeks in Queensland as they are based in either Sydney or Melbourne, cities that are currently in lockdown. Those 12 players departed their respective cities for Brisbane on Monday morning.

It will be a hard quarantine for all of those players, who will be restricted to their rooms and unable to train throughout that period. They will be released on September 13.

The tour will begin two days later than originally scheduled with three ODIs at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, formerly known as Harrup Park, with matches on September 21, 24 and 26.

The one-off day-night Test match will then follow at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast between September 30 and October 3 before three T20s at the same venue on October 7, 9 and 10.

Brisbane's Allan Border Field, which hosted Australia's matches against New Zealand last season, is not available this summer due to renovations.

Details of any warm-up matches have yet to be confirmed. India had originally been due to play an Australian XI at Sydney's Hurstville Oval on September 17.

"We’ve been monitoring the situation across the country and it is clear that the current COVID challenges prevent the original schedule from proceeding as initially planned," Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said.

"We are incredibly grateful to the Queensland Government for agreeing to quarantine the Australian and Indian players and enabling this important series to be played in Queensland. We are also delighted to be bringing our World Champion women's team to Mackay and regional Queensland.

"Having had to postpone the series last summer due to the pandemic, we are looking forward to hosting an Indian team which boasts some of the best players in the world in this historic series featuring the first ever day-night Test match between the two sides."

Twelve members of Australia's 18-player squad – Meg Lanning, Rachael Haynes, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Sophie Molineux, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck and Georgia Wareham – are all based in either NSW or Victoria and will arrive in Queensland on Monday to begin two weeks of quarantine.

Beth Mooney (Queensland), Darcie Brown and Tahlia McGrath (both South Australia) as well as Nicola Carey and Molly Strano (Tasmania) won't be required to quarantine. Queensland-based Georgia Redmayne is currently undergoing two weeks of hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast after returning from the Hundred in the UK, and is due to be released around September 7.

"We're incredibly grateful to the government up here in Queensland for allowing our players in," Australia coach Matthew Mott said.

"We’ve been really good at quarantining, we did it really well in New Zealand and got some great wraps for the way we embraced it.

"It’s going to be tough for those players, and particularly leading into a Big Bash straight after.

"Looking after them mentally and physically is going to be really important, it's a congested schedule.

"That player freshness, keeping them up and about will be really crucial."

The series will be the first time India and Australia have met since the T20 World Cup final on March 8 last year, and will serve as crucial preparation ahead of next year's ODI World Cup in New Zealand.

Tickets to the updated schedule will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday September 14 at 3pm through Ticketek.

Fans with tickets to previously scheduled matches at North Sydney Oval, Junction Oval or the WACA will be communicated with directly by Ticketek, with tickets to be refunded in full.

The ongoing border closures also mean the start of the men's domestic season, which is currently scheduled to begin in Melbourne on September 11, will be delayed.

The six state teams had been scheduled to play six Marsh One-Day Cup games in six days between September 11 and 16 in either Melbourne or Perth before the Marsh Sheffield Shield season begins on September 28.

CA is expected to make an announcement in the coming days about changes to the men's domestic schedule, which currently includes five full Shield rounds in two months before the one-off Test against Afghanistan in late November.

CommBank Series v India

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

Sep 21: First ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

Sep 24: Second ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (D/N)

Sep 26: Third ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast (D/N)

Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast