NEW DELHI: India skipper Virat Kohli received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. Kohli also urged everyone to get vaccinated as soon as they can.

“Vaccinate as soon as you can please. Stay Safe,” Kohli wrote in his Instagram story.

India pacer Ishant Sharma and wife Pratima Singh also received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

Last week, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Rahane, Umesh, Ishant, Kohli will be next seen in action when India locks horns against New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC).

Speaking to ANI, a BCCI official said that it will need some more time before a clear picture can be drawn regarding the completion of vaccination for all India Test cricketers who are to head to UK on June 2.

“The Indian government has opened vaccination for every person above 18 so the players can take their first dose. But the second dose is the question here and while the BCCI is looking at working closely with the England and Wales Cricket Board to ensure players can get a second dose in the UK, if that is not approved by the UK government, we will have the vaccine taken from India for the second dose. Let’s see how that works out in the coming days,” the official had explained.

The WTC final gets underway on June 18 and will continue till June 22 with June 23 kept as a reserve day. While it was initially set to be played at the Lord’s, the ICC decided to move it to Southampton with an eye on the COVID-19 situation across the globe.

The BCCI on Friday named a 20-member squad (two subject to fitness clearance) which will also have standby players. Of the four standby players, fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has tested positive for COVID-19.

BENGALURU: India will be touring Sri Lanka in July for a white-ball series comprising of three ODIs and three T20Is. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has proposed an itinerary to the BCCI and it sees both teams locking horns in three ODIs first and it is followed by the T20I matches, reported ESPNcricinfo. The three ODIs will be played on July 13, 16, 19 and it will be followed by the T20I series running from July 22-27.

As per the itinerary, India’s white-ball team will be arriving in Sri Lanka on July 5 and they will head back home on July 28. After arriving in Sri Lanka, the side will have to serve out a week-long quarantine which will be split into two sets, stated the report.

The first set will comprise of three days of hard quarantine inside their rooms and it will be followed by four days where the squad can train but their movement will be strictly restricted to just the hotel and the ground.

None of India’s players who are a part of the travelling group for the World Test Championship final and the England Test series will be part of the Sri Lanka series.

Virat Kohli and boys’ preparation for the upcoming World Test Championship final against New Zealand in the UK — from June 18 — will start on May 25 when they enter the bio-bubble created for them here in India itself. The 8-day bubble will be followed by another 10-day quarantine in the UK before the boys take on the Kiwis in Southampton.

Speaking to ANI, a BCCI official in the know of the roadmap drawn for the WTC final and the five-match Test series against England had said that it will be a case of breaking the quarantine period into two parts so that players can start training once in the UK on June 2.

“You can expect the boys to come into the bubble on May 25 as it will be an 8-day quarantine period which will not just involve testing against COVID-19, but also there will not be any movement as the boys prepare for the UK schedule.

“Once in the UK on June 2, the boys will go for another 10-day quarantine. But this time the cricketers can train as they are moving from the bubble in India to the bubble in England in a charter plane. A bubble to bubble move lets them train even though there will be continuous testing at all times and no further movement,” the official explained.

The world is currently eyeing the final of the World Test Championship which is going to be held in Southampton and the team management is eyeing the selection of the ideal playing XI, which involves lot of complexities and many difficult decisions to be made.

The first difficult decision is to choose between Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal. Both are talented. The team management has invested in Shubman Gill but I will go with Mayank Agarwal. This player has experience which can be very useful to the team. There is no doubt that Rohit Sharma, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin will be a part of the playing XI. The decision to play between Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja will not be easy for the team management. Both have good batting ability.

If Jadeja is retained, it will be only due to his batting, while Hanuma Vihari has proved himself with his great batting in the Australian tour and he can also bowl some overs. The point against him is that he is also a part-time off-spin bowler while Jadeja’s left arm goes in his favor. Among fast bowlers, Team India will come down with three bowlers. Jaspreet Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are our frontline seamers. The third fast bowler may be chosen between Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj. I think Siraj is a better choice in English conditions. He has a swing that can prove to be effective in England. Siraj has variety while Ishant is a single-dimensional bowler. Well, it would have been better if the team had a left-arm fast bowler but T. Natarajan is not fit.

However, all this will depend on the current form of the players. In England, practice matches will also make the situation much clear, but this time it is certain that the team management may have to take some tough decisions.

If the BCCI has decided to send a separate team for the white ball cricket tour to Sri Lanka, we actually have a large pool of players ready. Anyway, cricket is not being played all over the world. Teams in England and Australia have conducted such experiments before.

Now Team India is also going to do experiments that are good for cricket, and for cricket lovers, they have not been watching too much cricket for a long time.

(The author is a former fast bowler of Team India and currently a cricket expert)

Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell has said that the suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season due to rising Covid-19 cases is a reminder of the game’s vulnerability.

IPL 2021 season was suspended indefinitely due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases. A number of players tested positive within the bio-bubble and as a result, the tournament had to be postponed. “The suspension of the 2021 IPL tournament because of surging Covid infections and deaths among the public, and a number of participants testing positive, was a reminder of the game’s vulnerability,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

“In the past, tours have been aborted and matches abandoned for a variety of reasons. Many of these involved back stories, some of which were tragic and others amusing,” he added.

Chappell also said that the suspension of IPL 2021 could set a precedent and it may see the T20 World Cup being postponed or moved. India is set to host the T20 World Cup in October-November this year.

“In the current disastrous climate, the suspension of the IPL could also produce a precedent. It may lead to the World T20 event, programmed for India later in the year, either being postponed or moved,” said Chappell.

Chappell also highlighted some instances where the game of cricket came to a halt due to various reasons. “In 1969, England toured a bitterly divided Pakistan where the series was haunted by protests from the beginning. When a riot brought the third Test in Karachi to a premature halt, the England team flew home immediately,” said Chappell.

“In the match, Colin “Ollie” Milburn had completed his second Test century after being recalled from Australia, where he had enjoyed a prolific Sheffield Shield season with Western Australia. In one innings he smoked a scintillating double-century against Queensland, where he scored a believe-it-or-not 180 runs in a single session. Milburn’s excellent Shield form and subsequent Test century looked to have cemented his spot in the England team, but sadly he never represented his country again. On returning home he was involved in a serious car accident which resulted in him losing sight in one eye. It was a sad end to the career of one of cricket’s great entertainers and characters,” he added.

The former Australia skipper also talked about how the fourth Test between England and Pakistan came to a premature end in 2006 after Pakistan walked off the field after being accused of ball-tampering.

“At the same ground in 2006 the fourth Test between England and Pakistan came to a premature end with much recrimination. Pakistan forfeited the match after refusing to take the field when the team was accused of ball-tampering and penalised five runs. Despite cricket employing more sheriffs than you’d find in the old American Wild West, the Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, could not be coaxed into taking his team back onto the field,” said Chappell.

“After a lengthy delay the match was awarded to England on a forfeit.In a disgraceful attempt at compromise, the ICC subsequently declared the match a draw in 2008. However, integrity finally won out in 2009 when the decision was reversed at the behest of the MCC, who quite rightly claimed that to not uphold the laws set a dangerous precedent,” he added.

MALE: Star batsman David Warner and former Australia opener turned commentator Michael Slater have clearly denied that the duo were involved in an altercation inside a Maldives bar.

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Warner and Slater, who was commentating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 along with the Australian contingent are staying in the Maldives before they all leave for Australia. The rumour of physical exchange between the duo in the Maldives was first reported by the Daily Telegraph as cited by foxsports.com.au.

The former Australian opener is reported to have sent a text to senior journalist Phil Rothfield quashing the rumour.

“There is absolutely nothing to the rumour mill Buzz. Davie and I are great mates and absolutely zero chance of (having) a fight,” foxsports.com.au quoted Slater as saying in a text message.

SRH skipper and Australian batsman Warner too denied the rumour saying: “There has been no drama.”

“I don’t know where you get these things from. Unless you were here and have got concrete evidence you can’t write anything. Nothing happened,” Warner added.

Earlier this week, Slater had lashed out at the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison amid the travel ban as coronavirus continues to rage in India.

Morrison had announced a ban on passenger flights from India till May 15 and he also said that there would be no special privileges given to the Australian players in India.

Slater, who was commentating in the ongoing IPL, accused the Australian PM of having “blood on his hands” and termed the decision of travel ban as a “disgrace”.

The Australian players, coaches, match officials, and commentators have been safely transported from India to the Maldives.

The Australians will remain in the Maldives until the conclusion of the travel pause pertaining to flights from India to Australia. As previously stated, CA and the ACA are not seeking an exemption from the Australian Government.

The safety of every individual involved in the IPL was one of the major reasons for the BCCI and the IPL Governing Council to unanimously decide on the postponement of the league on Tuesday.

With just 75 days remaining for the Tokyo Olympic Games, the mood in the National Camp in SAI Centre, Bengaluru where both Indian men and women’s core probables are housed continues to be optimistic as the players are going about their preparations with utmost zeal.

Though the Indian team captains expressed their disappointment over not being able to travel for tours in the coming weeks due to the travel restrictions, they stated that the players continue to remain focused on their mission to succeed at the Olympics. “When the FIH Pro League Games matches against Germany and Spain too were postponed, we were extremely disappointed because those matches would have certainly helped in our preparations. But we understand these are really unprecedented times, and there are travel restrictions in place.”

“In these trying times, we would like to express our solidarity towards those who have lost their lives and also salute the frontline workers and covid warriors who are working round the clock to save lives,” said India men’s skipper Manpreet Singh in a Hockey India release.

Manpreet further emphasized the team’s focus remains undeterred and every player is giving his 100 per cent in this mission to win a medal.

“We strongly believe we have the best chance to win a medal at the Olympics and this belief is keeping everyone motivated and optimistic. Our training now has been planned in such a manner that we peak at the right time and also we are clocking long hours in the sun to get our bodies acclimatized to the hot conditions in Tokyo,” said Manpreet.

Women’s skipper Rani, on the other hand, expressed relief that all players who had tested positive recently will now resume training this week.

“We are relieved that all those players who had tested positive are all doing fine and have geared up to resume training. We are taking all precautions on campus too so that we are stay healthy and injury-free in the lead up to the Games,” said Rani.

“With travel restrictions in place, we understand we will need to remain in SAI Centre, Bengaluru and train. This is perhaps the same situation for some of the other countries too,” she further said.

“Despite these setbacks, we will continue to pursue our goal of doing well in Tokyo. The next 75 days is crucial, and we are upbeat as a group,” Rani signed off.