Tim Paine calls Indian players ‘selfish’ for risking lives of others

Tim Paine, a former Australian captain, has blasted the Indian players for allegedly breaching the bio-bubble during the Border-Gavaskar trophy series in 2021. He said that their actions almost jeopardised the entire series.

During India’s tour to Australia for the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar series, a fan’s video on social media aroused uproar when five key members of the touring team were seen eating inside a Melbourne restaurant, apparently in breach of Covid rules.  The event garnered a lot of criticism from the community.

Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, and Navdeep Saini were photographed entering a Sydney restaurant, where they were accused of breaking Covid guidelines. The five Indian players were singled out by the Australian media as violators. All of the allegations were eventually refuted by the BCCI.

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Meanwhile, Tim Paine has attacked Indian players, accusing them of being “selfish” and suggesting that they would risk the entire series for a bowl of Nando’s.

“I mean those four or five guys put the whole Test series at risk. For what? For a bowl a Nando’s chips or wherever they went, like I just find that pretty selfish to be honest,” former Australia skipper Pain said on Voot Select’s docu-series ‘Bandon Me Tha Dum’.

However, Ajinkya Rahane, who was filling in for India skipper Virat Kohli at the time, stated that the report was unfounded and that the players were simply waiting for their ‘takeaway order’ inside the eatery. As a preventive measure, the five players were kept in isolation. Players who tested negative for Covid-19 were cleared to participate in the following Test.

The youthful India team was led by Ajinkya Rahane, who battered the hosts. The Test series, which was full of extravagance, action, and a comeback, also had its fair share of drama, especially leading up to the third Test in Sydney.