Indian off-spinner R Ashwin revealed that Indian players were not allowed to share a lift with Australian players during the Sydney Test and said that it was something visitors found difficult to digest.

The third Test-match of the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar witnessed a series of eye-catching events that took place during a Test match; the racial abuse incident, Tim Paine’s on-field banter with R Ashwin, and then Team India earning a well-fought draw.

However, throughout the tour,  players and support staff of both teams stayed in the same bio-bubble due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Referring to the bubble restrictions in Sydney, R Ashwin said that despite being in the same bubble Indian players were not allowed to share the lift with Australian players.

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“We reached Sydney, they locked us with severe restrictions. There was a unique thing that happened in Sydney. It was strange, to be honest. Both India and Australia were in the same bubble. But when Australian players were in the lift, they won’t allow Indian players inside it,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

R Ashwin described how the team after seeing that they can't even share the same life with the Australian players and said that it was too difficult to digest for them. 

“Seriously guys? We felt so bad at that time. We are in the same bubble. But you get into the lift and you can’t share the space with another person staying in the same bubble. It was too difficult for us to digest. We are all in the same bubble, but you get into the lift and share the lift space!” he said. 

Despite all the controversies and incidents that took place, Team India registered a famous draw at Sydney as Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari- both fighting injuries- batted for more than four hours together and stitched a 62*-run partnership in 259 deliveries on the final day.

(PTI Inputs)