India begin their Commonwealth Games campaign against Australia on Friday

Shashank Kishore28-Jul-2022

India begin their Commonwealth Games campaign against Australia on Friday•Sri Lanka Cricket

India batter S Meghana will join the women’s squad for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday night after recovering from Covid-19. Meghana could be available for India’s first group game against Australia on Friday.Meghana is believed to have cleared her Covid test on Wednesday and was put on the first available flight to join the squad in the UK.Allrounder Pooja Vastrakar, who had also tested positive for Covid-19, is likely to remain in quarantine in Bengaluru until Saturday. Her travel to the UK is subject to her passing two Covid tests and a mandatory fitness test.Related

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Vastrakar could fly out on Sunday at the earliest, which will make her available for India’s last league fixture against Barbados on Wednesday.An official from the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) had confirmed Meghana and Vastrakar’s positive tests a day after the India team had left for the Commonwealth Games on Monday.This is the first time that women’s cricket has been included in the Commonwealth Games, and the competition will be played in the T20 format. India are in Group A along with Australia, Pakistan and Barbados, while Group B comprises England, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.India open their campaign against Australia on Friday before taking on Pakistan on July 31, and then play their final group game against Barbados on August 3. All the matches in the Commonwealth games will be classified 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 RanaStandbys: Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav, Simran Bahadur