India took on Australia in the final of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 cricket event and went on to lose the gold medal to their counterparts in what was a very closely fought over in Edgbaston on Sunday, August 7. But the biggest news from the game was the inclusion of Tahlia McGrath, despite the Australian testing positive ahead of the match!
"CGA clinical staff have consulted with the Commonwealth Games Federation RACEG (Results Analysis Clinical Expert Group) team and match officials, and McGrath is taking part in today's final against India," read the official Cricket Australia release.
This will come as a big surprise for the Indian contingent, who faced a similar situation in the para discus throw event where Aneesh Kumar Surendran Pillai was not allowed to take part after testing positive forcing him to miss his competition in the Birmingham Games. Pillai was supposed to take part in the F44 discus throw final.
The 31-year-old was a bronze medallist at the Para Asian Games in Jakarta four years ago.
"He is asymptomatic but has tested COVID positive. The CGF did not clear his participation...It is really unfortunate as he had his final today," a para official of the Indian contingent had told PTI.
Even women's hockey team player Navjot Kaur had to fly back home after testing positive a day before their curtain raiser, and PV Sindhu was not allowed to enter the Games Village after an RT-PCR test showed some deviations in her result.
"In consultation with the CGF and the ICC, CGA and Cricket Australia medical staff have implemented a range of comprehensive protocols which will be observed throughout the game and for post-match activity, to minimise the risk of transmission to all players and officials," the release added.
McGrath was eventually dismissed for two runs during Australia's innings and was seen sitting in the balcony of the stands with her mask and isolated herself from the team.
After the match, Harmanpreet spoke about the incident during a post-match press conference, saying, "They informed us before the toss. That was something not in our control. The CWG had to take a decision and we were okay with it since she (Tahlia McGrath) wasn't very ill, so we decided to play. We had to show sportsman spirit. I'm happy we didn't say no to Tahlia, it would've even very hard-hitting for her."
