Reports: Michael Slater leaves IPL bubble, escapes to Maldives; other players keen to follow same route

It has been a grim start to the week for the cricket fans as two players in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp, Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier, tested positive for COVID-19. This has followed by three non-playing members of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) returning positive results. This has certainly created a lot of panic among everyone.

Moreover, it has been understood that the former Australian cricketer and the commentator Michael Slater has also left the bubble. If the reports in The Australian are to be believed, Slater has escaped to Maldives over the weekend and is no more part of the commentary panel.

The report further added that a few Australian players, coaches and officials are very much nervous after the positive cases within the bubble and they are looking for ways to leave the bubble. They are also keen to know the route taken by Slater to travel to Maldives amidst the rising cases in India.

Pat Cummins asserts everything is fine

Meanwhile, The Australian has also reported that the pacer Pat Cummins contacted his manager Neil Maxwell on Monday and assured him that he is fine. Rather the Australian fast bowler commended the way the situation has been handled.

“Pat is perfectly fine. Everyone else is fine. Two guys have it. There is no issue. They still feel quite safe and commend the way it has been handled. They are pretty relaxed about it. There are no alarm bells around it to be frank,” Maxwell said.

Already a few Australians had returned home citing concerns over rising COVID-19 cases in India. Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Andrew Tye had left the bubble with the leg-spinner Zampa even openly speaking about the concerns about the bubble. However, later he also cleared that his comments were taken in wrong context.

With several reports coming out from different sources, it remains to be seen if the BCCI comes out and clarifies the situation like they did for the KKR players testing positive for the virus.