
With the Indian team facing plenty of criticism from the Australian media after five players were placed in isolation for an alleged bio-secure bubble breach in Melbourne, former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha has lashed out at the Australian media as he said that they are trying to unsettle the Indian team after losing the Boxing Day Test by eight wickets.
Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini were asked to isolate after photographs and video of them dining at an indoor restaurant went viral on social media. However, the BCCI has continued to back its players. But some of the reactions coming in from Australian media and a handful of Australian politician have irked Ojha.
"Everybody knows Australians are bad losers. They are not able to take it (MCG defeat) despite five of our main players missing. Indian team is doing so well. They never expected the Indian team to win. They thought they could win, they were taken by surprise," Pragyan Ojha said on Sports Today.
"I feel it's a big gimmick to take the pressure off Australia and try to get under the skin of the Indians. They don't know we exactly know what they are trying to do. The Indian team is relaxed, they know what to do and focused on the last 2 Tests," he added.
Meanwhile, the entire Indian contingent tested negative for the coronavirus and all the players left for Sydney from Melbourne on Monday.
"Rohit Sharma, he has had a 14-day hard quarantine, before that training at the NCA. I am very sure he is not a fool to come and just breach the protocols. Yes, at times, things look different. I am very sure, they know what the protocols are and they follow them," said Ojha speaking about the whole controversy.
"The bottom line is Australians are bad losers," he concluded.
With the four-match Test series firmly locked at 1-1, the third Test between India and Australia is set to start from January 7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.