Former Australian captain Tim Paine has slammed the Indian players for the alleged bio-bubble breach during India’s tour of Australia in 2020-21. In a video that surfaced online, several Indian players including Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Saini and a few others were seen eating inside a restaurant which was said to be a bio-bubble breach given the Covid-19 situation at that time.
Soon after the video surfaced online, Australian media reported that the players were under investigation for the incident by the Indian board. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) later denied any such investigation saying it wasn’t the violation of rules.
In the docuseries Bandon Mein Tha Dum, Paine blamed the Indian players for putting the entire series at risk with the incident.
“I mean those 4-5 guys put the whole Test series at risk. For what? For a bowl of Nando’s, chips or wherever they went, like I just find that pretty selfish to be honest,” said Paine, who was recently removed as Australia’s Test captain.
Australian speedster Pat Cummins, who succeeded Paine as Australia’s Test captain, said the incident annoyed a few Australian players as they were spending time away from their families during Christmas to follow the Covid protocols.
“It did annoy quite a few of the boys. Especially the ones who had to spend a Christmas without their families. That was sacrificing quite a bit to be there on that tour to hear that the other team were flouting the rules and not taking it as seriously,” Cummins said.
Ajinkya Rahane, who led India to a 2-1 win in that series, said that the players did not violate the rules and were waiting for their takeway orders.
“The players who appeared in the pictures were actually waiting for their takeaway order. Due to bad weather, they had to wait inside. The story that appeared in the news was really wrong,” Rahane said.
