Baby Village Sydney Store Owner Responds After Alleged COVID-19 Protocol Violation by Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya
The reports of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya not obeying the protocols emerged after five players of the Indian team, including Rohit Shrama and Rishabh Pant were accused of breaching the bio-secure bubble after they had visited a local restaurant in Melbourne. However, all the palters tested negative in a recent round of testing.
Indian cricketing duo, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, landed in hot waters after reports emerged that the two had potentially breached the bio-secure bubble protocols by shopping in a baby store during the tour of Australia and had also posed for pictures with several staff members. The owner of the store has responded to these allegations, saying the duo had maintained the given guidelines. Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Three Other Indian Cricketers Kept in Isolation After Potential Bio-Secure Bubble Breach in Australia.
The reports of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya not obeying the protocols emerged after five players of the Indian team, including Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant were accused of breaching the bio-secure bubble after they had visited a local restaurant in Melbourne. However, all the palters tested negative in a recent round of testing.
Nathan Pongrass, the owner of Baby Village in Bondi Junction, Sydney, has rubbished the rumours of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya breaching the COVID-19 protocols. The owner said the Indian duo did not touch or shake hands with the staff while there and maintained ‘adequate social distancing’.
Virat Kohli, Kardik Pandya at Baby Village
‘They came in and spent a little bit of time. At that stage, there were no restrictions in New South Wales. We wanted to give them gifts but they wanted to pay for everything. They were just so generous with their time. They spent time talking with our staff. They were just lovely people,’ Pongrass told Australian journalist Norman Kochannek for Sports Today.
‘Our staff was not allowed to touch them and shake hands with them. Even though there were no restrictions at the time, they were very much keeping their distance. I don’t think they were masks. As I said before, at that time, there weren’t many new cases in New South Wales,’ he added.
Both Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have returned to India following their participation down under. The latter featured in the limited over series while the Indian skipper additionally played in the first test before heading home to be present at the birth of his first child.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2021 09:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).