INS vs AUS: Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and 3 other India Players Isolated From Rest of Squad

The five Indian players including Rohit Sharma who had visited a restaurant in Melbourne on New Year’s Day have been placed under isolation after a video of theirs appeared on social media where they were seated in an indoor area in the diner.

Issuing a statement on the alleged bio-bubble breach by Team India players, Cricket Australia has said that 5 players from the touring party have been ‘separated’ from the squad and have been placed under isolation. These players are Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini. While these players have been allowed to train, the BCCI and Cricket Australia have started investigating the matter.

“The players ‘ Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini ‘ have been separated from 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.

“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 statement added.

“Players will be permitted to 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,” the BCCI release said.

This incident came into the limelight after an Indian cricket fan in Melbourne, Navaldeep Singh, who happened to be at the same restaurant had shared about it on social media.

Navaldeep posted a video on social media of the cricketers sitting on a table behind him at the restaurant and claimed that he had cleared their bill. Along with it, he had also written of a brief interaction with the players when they found out that their bill had been paid, and claimed at the time that Rishabh Pant had “hugged” him.

But later in the day, the Indian fan posted a clarification on Twitter and rubbished such reports.

“Clarification – Pant never hugged me it was all said in excitement we maintained social distance all thru:) Apologies for miscommunication @BCCI @CricketAus @dailytelegraph,” the Indian fan posted on Twitter.

Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini – had visited a restaurant in Melbourne on New Year’s Day and were seated indoors, while the protocol permits players to sit in only outdoor areas in restaurants