Five Test players from the Indian national cricket team including vice-captain Rohit Sharma, opener Shubman Gill, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini have courted controversy for allegedly ordering beef in an Australian restaurant. In India, Mr Narendra Modi and his seemingly footling party the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) have roared to power appealing to the prejudices of the Hindu majority population which includes beef eating and cow slaughter. Mr Modi via his party cadre, close family members of party officials and government-appointed officials control the administration of Indian cricket, a sport which is of abhorred British colonial origin but passionately revered by millions of Indians.
A bill from the Secret Kitchen Noodles & BBQ restaurant in Melbourne with Steamed Pork Dumpling and stirred beef fry with vegetables in black bean sauce is trending on the microblogging site Twitter, which was allegedly ordered by the Indian Cricket team members mentioned above. Earlier a cricket fan had tweeted a video of the players eating together in the restaurant. The players are allowed to eat only outdoors. This video has also led to an investigation into a possible breach of the COVID-19 bio-security protocols by the Indian players. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) have announced a joint investigation into the incident. All five players have been isolated.
As per the cricket fan, he was seated close to the players and received a hug from Rishabh Pant after he paid for the players’ bill. The fan has subsequently retracted his claim. However, the image of the restaurant bill is being still tweeted by others.
The Indian tweeple are divided over the issue. Certain hardline Hindutva Twitter account holders have condoned it. Rest of the tweeple have either asked for an explanation from the players or outright supported them for their food habits. So far there are no explanations from the players or the officials.
The Indian cricket team in Australia for the  Vodafone Test Series. India vs Australia third Test is scheduled for January 7 and the two teams are expected to arrive in Sydney a couple of days before the scheduled start. Â
Image: Alleged Bill of Indian Cricket Team ordering beef in Australia
