The mission to keep the fourth Test at the Gabba has been given a boost with confirmation players will not need to quarantine in their hotel room.

India’s frustrations over the planned quarantine conditions in Queensland threw doubt over the venue of the series finale on Sunday, with the tourists reportedly wanting a move from Brisbane.

That was met with a firm resistance by Australia’s players, who see the Gabba as their fortress and none of whom would remember seeing the team lose a Test there.

At the heart of India’s issues is believed to be a frustration that it has already served a 14-day quarantine on entry to the country, and don’t want to endure it again.

Matthew Wade says Australia "fully expect" to play the fourth Test at the Gabba, following reports that India are concerned about having to play under quarantine conditions in Brisbane #AUSvIND https://t.co/Ut2q4r4Nd1 pic.twitter.com/N13yLZFrgP

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 3, 2021

The tourists were particularly put off by any suggestion they would need to isolate in their hotel rooms, only allowed to leave to go the ground to train or play.

But while Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the state would not bend rules given they were coming from a COVID hotspot in Sydney, players could mix inside the hotel.

“They will be confined to the hotel. We have worked with them they can have bubbles within that hotel,” Dr Young said.

“Because they are going to be going and playing with colleagues in the matches so they will have exposure there.

“So it doesn’t expose me if they have exposure to each other in the hotel.”

Cricket Australia say no official approach has been made about the Test, while SCG staff have previously indicated they could prepare a pitch for a second straight Test if needed.

India’s Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane celebrate after winning the second Test at the MCG. Photo: AP

But Australian players are adamant the match should stay in Brisbane, expecting sacrifices to be made from the relative freedom they have had in Adelaide and Melbourne.

“If (play-in-quarantine) is what the government are going to make us do to play a game at the Gabba then we’re willing to sacrifice,” Matthew Wade said on Sunday.

“I knew going into it, a lot of the players knew coming into it, it wasn’t going to be an ideal situation.

“And if something went south we were going to make some more sacrifices along the way.”

Australia have not lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988, with its 32-year unbeaten streak the longest of any team at any ground in world cricket.

“Our record’s very good there and we tend to play good cricket there,” Wade said.

“If it went to games back to back at the SCG that would obviously not be something that we will want to do.

“We would be much more comfortable going and playing the schedule as it rolls.”

With the series locked at 1-1, both teams will leave Melbourne for Sydney on Monday for the third Test before the series finale in Brisbane on January 15.

New Year. Renewed Energy.💪

How is that for josh?🔊💥#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/PfKcXjkeK2

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 2, 2021

India’s Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini are in doubt as the BCCI investigates if they broke protocols by eating inside at a Melbourne restaurant.

Teams have enjoyed relative freedom so far on the tour, but restrictions will tighten in Sydney due to the outbreak before the play-under-quarantine conditions in Brisbane that have frustrated India.

“We aren’t keen on going to Brisbane if it means being stuck in the hotel again, except for going to the ground,” a source from within India’s camp told Cricbuzz.

“Instead we don’t mind being in some other city, playing both Test matches there.”

-AAP