5 Indian cricketers in quarantine after Melbourne dinner date

Published January 2, 2021
India's Rohit Sharma (C) chats with teammates during a training session at the MCG in Melbourne on January 2. — AFP
India's Rohit Sharma (C) chats with teammates during a training session at the MCG in Melbourne on January 2. — AFP

Five India cricketers were placed in isolation while the Australian and Indian cricket boards investigate allegations of breach of biosecurity protocols after a video surfaced showing the players eating at a Melbourne restaurant.

A video posted on social media showed Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw eating together on New Year's Day.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) are investigating the matter and seeking to determine whether the outing constitutes a breach of biosecurity protocols,” CA said in a statement.

“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 travelling and at the training venue.”

The Indian players will be allowed to train while adhering to the biosecurity protocols, the host governing body added.

According to the strict biosecurity protocols set by CA, players are allowed to sit outside but not allowed to dine inside restaurants.

The board had fined Big Bash League side Brisbane Heat after their players Chris Lynn and Dan Lawrence breached biosecurity measures earlier this season.

Australia and India are in the middle of a four-Test series, being played in the backdrop of strict health measures, with both sides currently staying in Melbourne before travelling to New South Wales for the third test in Sydney from Thursday.

New South Wales on Saturday made masks compulsory and imposed new restrictions as its coronavirus cluster expanded by seven but the test match was permitted to go ahead with attendance at 50 per cent capacity.

Australia has reported more than 28,450 Covid-19 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began and has since March closed its borders to all non-citizens and permanent residents.

Opinion

Editorial

Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...
Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.