Team India players and support staff test negative for COVID-19

Amidst all the brouhaha around India’s five players possibly breaching Cricket Australia’s bio-bubble protocols, COVID-19 tests of the visiting contingent have returned negative. The tests were done on Sunday ahead of the team scheduled travel to Sydney Monday. Once the reports of the players and the staff arrived, the team left for Sydney on Monday.

Last couple of days were pretty stressful with a lot happening off the field as the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini visiting a restaurant in Melbourne and meeting a fan. The players dining indoors in a hotel led to the BCCI and Cricket Australia launching an investigation to determine whether it was a breach of protocols.

The five players were also placed isolation but were allowed to train while maintaining a distance from their teammates. However, the matter should be closed now after all the players have been tested negative for the virus.

BCCI confirmed the news in a short statement which, according to the Times of India, read, “Playing members of the Indian Cricket Team and support staff underwent an RT-PCR Test for COVID-19 on January 3, 2021. All tests have returned negative results.”

Not concerned about what India is doing, says Matthew Wade

Matthew Wade interacted with the media on Sunday ahead of the third Test in Sydney. When he was asked about the possible breach of the protocols from the visiting players, the left-hander preferred to stay away from commenting anything regarding the matter. Rather Wade stated that Australia is more concerned about India when on the field and they are concentrating on the same.

“What India is doing, I haven’t really thought too much about it, I have seen the photo, it is what it is, people a lot higher than me are sorting it out, as a group and me personally, we are not worried what India is doing outside of the cricket ground, we cannot do much about it,” he said during the virtual press conference.