Australian baby store issues clarification over Kohli, Pandya's 'bio-bubble breach'

Cricket Desk: Days after Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya brought in the New Year together with their respective families, the star cricketers courted controversy for their recent visit to a baby store in Sydney during India's tour Down Under. Even though skipper Kohli has already left the Indian contingent, the charismatic skipper of the Men In Blue is still making headlines in Australia. Skipper Kohli and all-rounder Pandya were accused of breaching the COVID protocols before they departed for India. 

Kohli, Hardik's baby shop visit sparked fresh controversy as the incident soon became the talk of the town on social media. Talking about the unwarranted allegations of the COVID protocol breach being spread by the Australia media during India's ongoing tour Down Under, five Indian players, including vice-captain Rohit Sharma, opener Shubman Gill, and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant were asked to isolate themselves following a possible breach of the COVID-19 bio-security protocol by the cricketers.  

As per the latest development in Kohli and Pandya's alleged bio-bubble breach incident, the store owner of the Sydney-based baby shop has come forward to quash the baseless allegations. According to a report filed by India Today, it has been learned that the baby shop owner has denied any bio-bubble breach from the Indian players during their special visit. 

Nathan Pongrass, who is the owner of Baby Village, Bondi Junction has reportedly said that both Kohli and Pandya 'maintained adequate distance' and no staff members were allowed to touch or shake hands with the cricketers at the time. Nathan recalled that there were no restrictions in New South Wales when Kohli and Pandya visited the shop. 

"I don't think they were masks. As I said before, at that time, there weren't many new cases in New South Wales. If you looked through the streets, one in 50 people were wearing masks. Older people were wearing and even some pregnant ladies weren't wearing masks in Sydney," Pongrass told Australian journalist Norman Kochannek.

"That was the experience we had. We had a very positive experience. It's really a shame what has happened in the media because of it," Pongrass added. Talking about India's ongoing tour to Australia, the Indian team and support staff were all tested negative for COVID-19 after Cricket Australia (CA) launched an investigation into the potential bio-bubble breach.