'I am really sorry people' - Fan who paid for Indian cricketers' lunch in Melbourne after being abused online

Indian cricketers Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw have been currently placed in isolation for dining outside and meeting a fan in Melbourne on the New Year’s Day. The incident came to light after the fan by the name Navaldeep Singh himself posted a video in delight after spotting the Indian players in the restaurant.

He also paid for the cricketers’ lunch and then told that they clicked pictures with him. The fan also went on to add that Rishabh Pant hugged him before retracting the very next day stating that the social distancing was maintained and the Indian wicket-keeper never hugged him.

However, the BCCI and Cricket Australia had already started investigating the matter by then. The two boards are still looking into it and determine whether it was a possible bio-bubble breach from Rohit Sharma and four other cricketers. All the five players are currently in isolation and are allowed to train away from both the squads while they will also travel to Sydney maintaining the social distance from others.

I hope everything will be fine, says the fan

Meanwhile, the fan is distraught the way he is being treated on social media for meeting the cricketers. He is being abused a lot and is sad that he is against the people of country itself. The fan also hoped that things settle down soon.

“Mujhe log galiya de rae h.. dekho gaaliyo ka farak nai padta mujhe hum punjabi h 400-500 gaaliyan dosto ke saath bethe to apas main de dete h.. [I’ve been receiving abuses…although abuses don’t matter to me much given we Punjabis use expletives among friends] but i am really sad that i am against my country people at the moment. I am really sorry people and i just hope ke sab thik ho jaaye,” he wrote on Twitter.

Here’s the tweet:

Mujhe log galiya de rae h.. dekho gaaliyo ka farak nai padta mujhe hum punjabi h 400-500 gaaliyan dosto ke saath bethe to apas main de dete h.. but i am really sad that i am against my country people at the moment. I am really sorry people and i just hope ke sab thik ho jaaye 😭

— Navaldeep Singh (@NavalGeekSingh) January 2, 2021

Meanwhile, there is another twist in the tale with team India refusing to travel to Brisbane where a hard quarantine is likely for the players from both the sides. The visitors are expecting to be treated as normal Australians as they have completed 14-day quarantine upon landing in the country. There is still a possibility of the fourth Test being played in Sydney only.