T20 World Cup: Virender Sehwag slams Australia for poor hospitality after Indian players served ‘cold food’

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has slammed Australia for their poor hospitality after the Indian team complained about being served ‘cold food’ in lunch following their training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney on Tuesday (October 25). Unhappy with the quality of the food served, some Indian players skipped lunch.

The Indian players were left fuming after they were not served a proper lunch at the SCG following a three-hour training session. The menu had falafel, fruits, and some ‘cold’ sandwiches. While some of the players did pick up fruits and some falafel, others decided to leave the stadium and order lunch back at the team hotel.

As the news emerged on Wednesday, Sehwag took to Twitter to slam Australia’s hospitality and said India is much better than most western countries when it comes to providing good hospitality to their guests.

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“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,” Sehwag wrote in a tweet.

As per a report in PTI, the BCCI had registered an unofficial complaint with the ICC following the incident on Tuesday. The International Cricket Council is in charge of the fooding and the lodging of the players in the ongoing T20 World Cup. 

A BCCI official revealed some players did pick up fruits and falafel which were provided to them in the lunch menu but most of them avoided having sandwiches which were cold and not grilled properly. The players opted to have a proper meal back at the team hote not satisfied with the quality of the food served at the stadium.

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“It’s not like any boycott. Some players did pick up fruits and falafel but everyone wanted to have lunch and hence they had food going back to the hotel. 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,” a BCCI official told PTI.

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,” he added.