ICC official reacts after unhappy Team India skips lunch, heads back to hotel in Sydney in T20 World Cup

The ICC said it is looking into the issue and promised to sort the matter soon after the majority of the Indian cricketers went back to their hotel without having lunch at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday. Rohit Sharma and Co. expected a full meal after their practice session at the SCG but only fruits, cold sandwiches, and falafel. Rest assured, the menu did not please the Indian cricketers, who are habituated to having a full sumptuous meal after sweating it out in the nets for close to three hours.

Some of the Indian cricketers did take falafel and fruits but most of them decided to head back to the hotel for a full meal.

BCCI, unofficially, let the ICC know about their displeasure. "Yes, the Indian team has told us about their issues with the food after practice. We are trying to figure it out and the issue will be sorted," an ICC source told PTI.

Notably, it is the ICC who are in charge of food and lodging during the World Cup and not the host association. "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 after going back to the hotel," a BCCI official privy to the development told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

"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," the official further said.

The turn of events also drew criticism from former India opener Virender Sehwag who took a dig at the hospitality of western countries without naming anyone.

All the Indian batters barring Suryakumar Yadav were present in the nets, which was India's only practice session ahead of their next Super 12 match against the Netherlands. The Indian team didn't practice on Wednesday since the designated practice area is about 40kms from Sydney and the players would prefer not to travel that far, a day before the match.

Among the all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel were also not present while all the fast bowlers decided to take a breather in the optional training session.

It has to be mentioned that India travelled for about five hours to reach Sydney after a high-intensity match against Pakistan in Melbourne.