Australia all-rounder Tahlia McGrath tested positive for Covid-19 and yet got clearance to play the CWG 2022 final against India on Sunday. McGrath tested positive to Covid-19 on the morning of the gold medal match in Birmingham but was allowed to take the field due to the fact that she was only suffering from minor symptoms.
The talented 26-year-old went wicketless and only managed two runs with the bat as Australia clinched a thrilling nine-run victory, but conjecture surrounded whether or not she should have been able to take the field at all, and the toss was even delayed by more than 10 minutes as the issue was discussed.
Nonetheless, this evoked a serious response from the Indian fans who believed that Australia should have isolated the cricketer, acting on the Covid protocols at play in CWG 2022. Some of them also mentioned how Australia didn’t allow the likes of Novak Djokovic to enter the country last year when was detained for not having vaccinated himself.
Now Djokovic will well want to know what the fuss was all about……. pic.twitter.com/QMSqDsSocR
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) August 8, 2022
Why test when one can play with COVID ?
Didn’t Australia stop #Djokovic coz he wasn’t vaccinated ? Now how can they play a COVID +player ?
This #CommonwealthGames is a sham ! https://t.co/2OvmEszh5y
— Saikiran Kannan (@saikirankannan) August 7, 2022
Tahlia McGrath can’t sit with her teammates but she can play cricket.
Make this make sense! 😡😡
— Cricketjeevi (@wildcardgyan) August 7, 2022
Here’s a cricket story that should also interest my few followers who don’t care for the celestial game: In the #INDvsAUS women’s cricket final at the #CWG22, Tahlia McGrath, an Aussie player who tested +ve for #Covid_19 was permitted to play. No quarantine, no distancing, nada.
— Tunku Varadarajan (@tunkuv) August 7, 2022
Saare exceptions yh aus ko kyu milre h 😏
Pehle women’s hockey me clock nh chala
Ab yh positive k baad bhi khel rahi h
Tf is happening ???
Ky aur players nh the replace krne ko jo zabardasti khilana pada— Prakhar Agarwal (@im_agarwalpk) August 7, 2022
How the fuck?! https://t.co/cWq5Tho9wE
— Sejal 🏏 (@sejal_mokal) August 7, 2022
Harmanpreet said the Indian team had been informed of McGrath’s positive test prior to the toss and had no objections to allowing her to take her place in Australia’s side.
“They informed us before the toss,” Harmanpreet said.
“That was something not in our control because the Commonwealth has to take the decision.
“We were OK because she (Tahlia McGrath) wasn’t very ill, so we just decided to play. We had to show the sportsman’s spirit. We’re happy that we didn’t say no to Tahlia because that (missing the final) would have been very hard-hitting for her,” she said.
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