The glorious 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy is still etched everyone's memory when injury-ravaged India staged one of the greatest comeback in the longest format of the game and went on to win the Test series against Australia in their own backyard.
Ajinkya Rahane spearheaded the young India squad to batter the hosts. The Test series, which was full of extravaganza, action and a fightback, also saw its own fair bit of drama and right before the third Test in Sydney. Despite rigorous Covid-19 regulations for the touring side, a few Indian players were spotted dining out in a restaurant during India's 2020-21 trip to Australia. The event drew a lot of flak from the local media, who blamed Indian players for endangering the series.
The players involved in the controversy were Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, and Navdeep Saini as they were seen eating at a restaurant in Melbourne after winning the second Test match.
Meanwhile, Paine has slammed Indian players, calling them "selfish" and claiming that they were willing to jeopardise 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'.
Pacer Pat Cummins also spoke about how some members of the Australian team were annoyed seeing Indian stars allegedly "flouting the rules".
"It did annoy quite a few of the boys, especially the ones who had to spend a Christmas without their families. That was sacrificing quite a bit to be there on the tour to hear that the other team were flouting the rules and not taking it seriously," said Cummins.
Rahane also spoke about how Australia played mind games after losing the Melbourne Test, and how the news was completely wrong of Indian stars breaking Covid rules.
"The players who appeared in the pictures were actually waiting for their takeaway order. Due to bad weather, they had to wait inside. The story that appeared in the news was really wrong. The Australian cricket board said that when you will go to Sydney from Melbourne, no one can come out of the hotel and you have to undergo quarantine. The outside world, especially in Sydney, everything was normal. There was no lockdown, everyone was allowed to move around and the players were asked to stay indoors. We knew that Australia have started to play mind games, especially after what happened in Melbourne," said Rahane.
