Five Indian players isolated following a potential COVID protocol breach, investigation underway

Jan 02, 2021

Five Indian players isolated following a potential COVID protocol breach, investigation underway Image

Five Indian players have been placed in isolation after a video emerged on Twitter of the group eating indoors on Friday in Melbourne.

Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, and Navdeep Saini have been separated from the rest of the Indian and Australian squads but will still train “in accordance with the strict protocols that have been put in place to ensure the ongoing safety of all members of the Indian and Australian squads,” said a Cricket Australia statement on Saturday night.

The statement further read, “The BCCI and CA are investigating the matter and seeking to determine whether the outing constitutes a breach of biosecurity protocols.”

“In the interim, on the advice of the Australian and Indian medical teams, the aforementioned players have been placed in isolation as a precaution. This will include separating the group of players from the broader Indian and Australian squads when traveling and at the training venue.”

An Indian fan had posted a video on Twitter on Friday of the players in the same restaurant as he was. The user suggested wrote in the tweet thread that he paid the bill for the table and then hugged Rishabh Pant. On Saturday though, he claimed there was no hug and players kept their distance.

Both the teams had decided to stay back in Melbourne after the second Test for the New Year and will travel to Sydney for the Third Test (7th Jan-11th Jan) only three days prior to the match.