India’s ongoing Test series against Australia got marred by controversies last week as the news of some visiting players violating the COVID-19 protocols came forward and the reports of Ajinkya Rahane-led side expressing unwillingness to travel to Brisbane for the fourth Test also emerged.

As a result, five players namely Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw were put in isolation after a video of them at an indoor restaurant in Melbourne went viral on social media.

See Also: Sanjay Manjrekar slams Indian cricketers for bio-bubble breach

Following the incident, a section of Australian media also accused India skipper Virat Kohli and all-rounder Hardik Pandya of bio-bubble breach for their visit to a baby store in Sydney on December 7.

While Cricket Australia and New South Wales government are yet to come with an official statement, an Australian newspaper claimed the two had violated the protocols in place for the series.

Meanwhile, Nathan Pongrass, the owner of the baby store, has dismissed the claims, saying both Kohli and Pandya maintained enough distance and the staff at the store were prevented from touching or shaking hands with the players.

The report in Sydney Morning Herald quoted a Cricket Australia official, saying the two cricketers had breached protocols as they were spotted without wearing masks.

However, Pongrass said masks were not a common thing in the first week of December as the COVID-19 cases in New South Wales were negligible.

"They came in and spent a little bit of time. At that stage, there were no restrictions in New South Wales. We wanted to give them gifts but they wanted to pay for everything. They were just so generous with their time. They spent time talking with our staff. They were just lovely people.

"They were kind enough to take a couple of photos with our team, which wanted to share the experience with family members. We put that on social media to just show we were being proud that they had chosen to visit our store," Pongrass told Australian journalist Norman Kochannek for Sports Today.

"Our staff was not allowed to touch them and shake hands with them. Even though there were no restrictions at the time, they were very much keeping their distance.

"I don't think they were masks. As I said before, at that time, there weren't many new cases in New South Wales. If you looked through the streets, one in 50 people were wearing masks. Older people were wearing and even some pregnant ladies weren't wearing masks in Sydney.

"That was the experience we had. We had a very positive experience. It's really a shame what has happened in the media because of it," he added.

The third Test between India and Australia will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 7.