Sydney retailer proprietor responds to Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya’s alleged bio-bubble breach, says ‘they maintained distance’

A brand new controversy sprang up just lately after a bit of Australian media alleged that India cricket stars Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya breached bio-bubble on December seventh throughout the Australia tour. Both Kohli and Pandya had reportedly visited a retailer in Sydney, and 20 days after each the gamers left the nation, experiences got here out that the 2 had breached the bio-secure protocols.But Nathan Pongrass, the proprietor of Baby Village, Bondi Junction – the store the place Kohli and Pandya reportedly visited – squashed the experiences and stated each the gamers had been fairly respectful and adopted all of the protocols that had been in place on the time. As per a report from Reuters, the masks had been made obligatory at indoor venues in New South Wales from January third after a recent Covid-19 outbreak in mid-December.Also Read | ‘The way Sourav, Rahul were out was in poor taste’: Laxman on ‘08 Sydney Test“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 instructed Australian journalist Norman Kochannek for Sports Today.“They were kind enough to take a couple of photos with our team, which wanted to share the experience with family members. We put that on social media to just show we were being proud that they had chosen to visit our store.“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.Also Read | ‘I don’t coach Steve Smith. Steve Smith coaches himself’“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.“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 signed off.India and Australia will face one another on January 7 within the third Test in Sydney with the four-match collection stage at 1-1.