Australia A’s tour of India was thrown off track by an unexpected health scare in Kanpur, where four of their players were sidelined by stomach infections. With fast bowler Henry Thornton even needing hospital care, questions quickly spread that poor food standards at the team hotel were to blame. But BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla has now moved to calm the storm, insisting that “food poisoning” is not the culprit.
BCCI VP bats for Kanpur’s facilities
Speaking to reporters in Kanpur, Shukla said the evidence simply doesn’t add up. “If there had been an issue with the food, all players, including the Indian players, would have fallen sick. It must have been something else,” he argued. Both India A and Australia A squads are dining out of the same kitchen at Hotel Landmark, one of the city’s best-known establishments, and so far none of the Indian players have shown any symptoms.
Thornton, who was briefly admitted to Regency Hospital, has since recovered and returned to the hotel, while the other three Australian players were discharged after routine checks. Even so, the incident has reignited debate about Kanpur’s ability to host large squads for international cricket. Shukla admitted that logistics are a recurring headache. “The issue arises because there aren’t many hotels. We need 300 rooms in a five-star hotel, and that’s not available. There is no international airport in the area that operates 24/7,” he said.
In the hours after the scare, speculation had already linked the illness to contaminated food, with local authorities collecting samples from the hotel kitchen. Those tests, however, came back clean. The hotel itself denied wrongdoing, suggesting that weather shifts could have played a role in unsettling visiting stomachs. Meanwhile, the Australian management quietly tweaked the team’s diet plan, even if that meant training changes.
