India’s cricket board is set to investigate a potential breach of biosecurity protocols involving several players as the New South Wales government comes under increasing pressure to lock fans out of the Sydney Test.
A video of some Indian players, including Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, sitting at a table in a Melbourne restaurant has been posted on the Twitter account of Navaldeep Singh.
Singh suggested on Friday he paid the bill for the table then hugged Pant, although on Saturday he claimed there was no hug and players kept their distance.
The four-Test series between Australia and India is being played amid a backdrop of biosecurity rules, which will get stricter when the squads travel to Sydney on Monday.Players and staff are permitted to leave the hotel but must dine outdoors.
The protocols have helped Cricket Australia, which requires exemptions from Queensland’s government for players to travel from Sydney to Brisbane for the fourth Test, navigate the country’s latest Covid-19 outbreak.
CA came down hard on Brisbane Heat after Chris Lynn and Dan Lawrence’s biosecurity breaches earlier this season, fining the club $50,000 ($20,000 suspended) and each player $10,000 ($4,000 suspended).
England paceman Jofra Archer’s biosecurity breach in 2020, when he stopped at his house while the squad travelled between hotels, resulted in a one-Test ban.
It will be up to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to investigate the recent incident and decide what sanctions, if any, are levelled.
The episode came as the NSW government rolled out a range of restrictions in response to rising coronavirus cases in Sydney, with masks to become mandatory for many indoor settings.
Outdoor seated events were now capped at 2,000 people, although the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said Covid-safe plans for larger events would be reviewed.
NSW Health officials would do a “walk through” at the Sydney Cricket Ground before rubber stamping plans for the third Test, which currently permit a daily crowd of approximately 20,000.
The NSW opposition leader, Jodi McKay, called for there to be no crowd at the SCG Test.
The Australian Medical Association president, Omar Khorshid, issued a public plea on Saturday regarding an event that could “supercharge the spread of Covid-19”.
“This is a potential transmission site,” Khorshid said, “as people queue at the ticket gates, at food and beverage stalls and use shared toilet facilities – on top of taking public transport from all parts of Sydney to gather in one central location.
“The decision to hold the Test match with spectators is at odds with the rest of NSW’s appropriate response to the latest outbreak.
“Let’s put health first and watch the third Test on TV.”
Berejiklian defended the fact that masks would be recommended – but not mandated – at the ground but felt fans would understand if there were any last-minute changes to rules or crowd size.
“During a pandemic, things can move very quickly,” Berejiklian said. “People in our state understand decisions need be taken (quickly) and the consequences that might occur.”