Melbourne fallout: Indian cricketers asked not to leave Sydney hotel except for training

Melbourne: The Indian cricketers arrived Monday in Sydney for the third Test beginning January 7. However, the entire team and support staff have been asked not to leave the hotel premises except for training during their stay in Sydney. BCCI confirmed Monday that the players have been asked to abide by the bio-security protocols strictly and maintain hotel-ground-hotel routine.

The development comes after five players – Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini were put in isolation as both the Australian and Indian cricket boards launched an investigation into alleged breach of bio-security protocols following a video on social media which showed them sitting indoors in a restaurant in Melbourne last week.

The advice by the team management means that the India players will stay in strict quarantine for the next two weeks as they follow up the Sydney Test with one in Brisbane, where the Queensland state government protocols put them in hotel-ground-hotel routine.

n Monday, both Cricket Australia and the BCCI confirmed that their players, support staff as well as match officials returned negative test results for Covid-19 prior to their departure to Sydney.

“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,” said a statement from the Indian cricket board Monday morning.

A Cricket Australia spokesperson also confirmed that the Aussie players as well as match officials have cleared the tests. “CA players, staff and match officials also underwent COVID-19 tests yesterday and have returned negative results,” said the spokesperson Monday.

It should be noted that the tests were part of the standard procedure to be followed by both the teams. They have nothing to do with investigation over the alleged breach by the five Indian players.