BCCI released a statement on Monday saying the Indian cricket team and support staff of the squad tested negative in the latest COVID-19 tests conducted in Melbourne. “Playing members of the Indian Cricket Team and support staff underwent an RT-PCR Test for COVID-19 on January 3, 2021. All tests have returned negative results,” the BCCI said in a short statement.
Five Indian cricketers including the vice-captain Rohit Sharma, opener Shubman Gill, stumper Rishabh Pant, pacer Navdeep Saini and batsman Prithvi Shaw were seen in a video uploaded by a fan on social media. The players were seen at an indoor restaurant and the fan revealed that Pant had hugged him.
However, he came up with a clarification later saying, “Pant never hugged me it was all said in excitement we maintained social distance all thru J Apologies for miscommunication @BCCI @CricketAus @dailytelegraph (sic).”
But this already gave birth to a debate regarding the violation of protocols. Cricket Australia had announced to launch a joint investigation with the BCCI. However, sources claimed, “The boys had just gone out to a restaurant to get some food. They followed all the necessary protocols and their temperature was checked and proper sanitization was done before they sat on the table. There is no need to make an issue out of this. As for the whole question of a fan being hugged by Pant, the fan has himself confessed that he had said that out of excitement.”
According to the sources, the players are not even bothered about the controversy. They are preparing for the third Test of Australia vs India four-match series scheduled to start on January 7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). “The boys have shut the outside world and they are not even looking at who is saying what. We are backing our belief that no protocol was broken and that is that. We are now looking at the third Test and the focus is on the next game at the SCG. We want to make it 2-1 by the time we leave the SCG at the end of the Test match.”