Kohli & Co. disregard BCCI's warning, gather for dinner at Birmingham restaurant: Report

A couple of Team India players could soon find themselves in hot water for breaking the strict COVID-19 guidelines set by The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of the Edgbaston Test. Ahead of The England vs India Edgbaston Test starting July 1 a picture has emerged online of Indian players appearing in public despite the strict warning from BCCI. Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has already tested positive for COVID-19 and is ruled out of upcoming England vs India 5th Test.

Team India players break BCCI Rules 

According to the Insidesport report the likes of former captain Virat Kohli and other members of Team India like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur, Mohamad Siraj, Navdeep Saini and Kamlesh Nagarkoti were caught visiting a restaurant in Birmingham. BCCI has given strict warnings to players to follow the medical team’s advice. The COVID-19 guidelines included not visiting public places, staying indoors unless needed and avoiding coming in contact with fans. Team India refused to play the fifth Test last year due to COVID-19 cases in the camp and the guidelines were set to avoid any further Covid-19 cases before the 5th Test.

BCCI scold Indian players 

With players getting selfies with fans and roaming in public places the BCCI reprimanded them and asked them to take safety precautions. After Rohit Sharma's COVID-19 issue had put Team India in a spot of bother and any more COVID cases in the camp will make things more difficult. Recently, a picture of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant also surfaced in which he was seen clicking pictures with fans in the crowd, which caused BCCI to get angry with the team.

According to an ANI report, BCCI official in his statement has said, " The board has scolded some players over their habit of hanging out in public. It also seems some players went in public and clicked pictures with fans, which could be dangerous. We had told them to stay careful but they still often roamed around in the city which is not required, so we asked them again to take precautions,".

Jasprit Bumrah to lead Team India in Test 

Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah will have his first shot at  Team India captaincy after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the Edgbaston Test due to COVID-19. The news regarding the same was confirmed by BCCI officials to the news agency. PTI has also confirmed that Rohit has tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time and is confirmed to miss the game at Edgbaston.