Indian team had options of sandwiches, falafels and fruits to choose from after practice.
After winning their first match against Pakistan in Melbourne, Team India moved to Sydney to face off against the Netherlands at the SCG on October 27. And as part of their preparations for the contest, they held an optional training session on Tuesday.
As per reports, the food offered to the Indian team at the venue was not of good quality and only cold food was provided like sandwiches, falafel, fruits, and salads. Notably, International Cricket Council (ICC) is handling the responsibility for providing food during the T20 World Cup 2022.
“The food that was offered to Team India was not good. They were just given sandwiches and they have also told ICC that food provided after the practice session in Sydney was cold and not good,” ANI reported citing BCCI sources.
And the ICC is not providing any hot food after lunch. Team India is also not participating in the practice session as they were offered a venue in Blacktown (In the suburbs of Sydney) approximately 45 minutes from Team Hotel where they are staying.
"Team India did not do practice sessions as it was offered a practice venue in Blacktown (In sub-urbs of Sydney) so they refused because that is appropriately 45 minutes away from Team Hotel where they are staying," ANI quoted the BCCI sources as saying.
PTI reported that some Indian players picked sandwiches and fruits, but the majority of them opted to eat after reaching their hotel as they wanted to have lunch.
“The problem is that the ICC isn’t providing any hot food after lunch. In a bilateral series, the host association is in charge of catering, and they always provide hot Indian meals after a training session. But for ICC, the rule is the same for all countries. You can’t just have a cold sandwich (not even grilled) with avocado, tomato, and cucumber after two hours of training. That is plain and simple inadequate nourishment," a BCCI source told PTI.
Slamming the poor options of food offered to Team India, Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to showcase the difference in hospitality in India and Western countries.
He tweeted: “Gone are the days when one used to think that the Western countries offer so good hospitality. India are way ahead of most western countries when it comes to providing hospitality of the highest standards.”
Apart from Sehwag, former India cricket Madan Lal also shared his opinion: “ICC not giving good food to the teams is shamed.I know they going to make@lot of money from the event but make sure you give all facilities to the players.”