Indian fan who paid the bill clarifies Rishabh Pant never hugged him

An Indian fan named Navaldeep Singh, on Friday, had a great start to the New Year 2021 as he spotted the Indian cricketers at a restaurant in Melbourne. He went one step ahead and paid the bill for the players and narrated the whole incident on his Twitter handle. In his tweets, he mentioned that Rishabh Pant hugged him as well and the story went viral on social media.

The players, according to him, clicked a picture with him as well. But as the incident viral, the possibility of the Indian players, Rohit Sharma, Pant, Shubman Gill, Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw, breaching the bio-bubble has come up. According to Cricket Australia’s bio-security protocols, the players and staff are allowed to eat out but have to be seated outdoors.

However, the staff of the restaurant has confirmed that the players dined inside. Moreover, Rishabh Pant hugging the fan has raised major concerns as the cricketers, in the bubble, are not expected to interact with the fans.

Meanwhile, the Indian fan, Navaldeep Singh, has come up with a clarification stating that Pant never hugged him and he wrote that in his earlier tweet only out of excitement. He also cleared that the social distancing was maintained throughout while apologising for miscommunication.

“Clarification – Pant never hugged me it was all said in excitement we maintained social distance all thru:) Apologies for miscommunication @BCCI @CricketAus @dailytelegraph,” his tweet read.

BCCI investigating the matter

Meanwhile, after being made aware of the fan interaction from five Indian players, the BCCI has started investigating the matter. The players might have breached the bio-bubble given the ongoing restrictions due to COVID-19 and it remains to be seen what happens next. It will also be interesting to see if the fan’s clarification will be taken into consideration.

Previous bio-bubble breaches have seen the players either being dropped from the next game or quarantining and testing again before entering in the bubble again. The third Test between Australia and India is set to be played from January 7 in Sydney and the visitors will be hoping that the matter resolves soon.