Pooja Vastrakar Still In Quarantine, S Meghana To Join India Squad In UK

After recuperating from Covid-19, Indian batter S Meghana will join the women’s team for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday night while all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar remains in quarantine. Meghana may be available for India’s Friday match against Australia in the opening round of the group. 

S Meghana was placed on the first available flight to join the team in the UK after it is thought that she passed her Covid test on Wednesday. 

Pooja Vastrakar To Remain In Quarantine Till Saturday

Pooja Vastrakar, an all-around player, is set to be in quarantine in Bengaluru till Saturday after testing positive for Covid-19 as well. She must pass two Covid exams as well as an essential fitness test before she can go to the UK. 

Pooja Vastrakar may go as early as Sunday, allowing her to participate in India’s last league match against Barbados on Wednesday.

A day after the Indian team’s departure for the Commonwealth Games on Monday, a representative of the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) verified Meghana and Vastrakar’s positive tests. 

Women’s cricket will be featured in the Commonwealth Games for the first time, and the match will be played in the T20 style. While England, South Africa, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka make up Group B, Australia, Pakistan, Barbados, and India are in Group A.   

India’s campaign begins on Friday with a match against Australia, followed by matches against Pakistan on July 31 and Barbados on August 3. The Commonwealth Games matches will all be categorised as T20 internationals. 

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Shafali Verma, S Meghana, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana 

Standbys: Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav, Simran Bahadur 

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