Melbourne – Five India cricketers were placed in isolation while theAustralian and Indian cricket boards investigate allegations of breach ofbiosecurity protocols after a video surfaced showing the players eating ata Melbourne restaurant.

A video posted on social media showed Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, ShubmanGill, Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw eating together on New Year’s Day.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia(CA) are investigating the matter and seeking to determine whether theouting constitutes a breach of biosecurity protocols,” CA said in astatement. “In the interim, on the advice of the Australian and Indianmedical teams, the aforementioned players have been placed in isolation asa precaution.

“This will include separating the group of players from the broader Indianand Australian squads when travelling and at the training venue.” TheIndian players will be allowed to train while adhering to the biosecurityprotocols, the host governing body added.

According to the strict biosecurity protocols set by CA, players areallowed to sit outside but not allowed to dine inside restaurants.

The board had fined Big Bash League side Brisbane Heat after their playersChris Lynn and Dan Lawrence breached biosecurity measures earlier thisseason. Australia and India are in the middle of a four-Test series, beingplayed in the backdrop of strict health measures, with both sides currentlystaying in Melbourne before travelling to New South Wales for the thirdtest in Sydney from Thursday.

New South Wales on Saturday made masks compulsory and imposed newrestrictions as its coronavirus cluster expanded by seven but the testmatch was permitted to go ahead with attendance at 50 per cent capacity.Australia has reported more than 28,450 Covid-19 cases and 909 deaths sincethe pandemic began and has since March closed its borders to allnon-citizens and permanent residents.