Smriti Mandhana receives first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

NEW DELHI: India Women's opening batter Smriti Mandhana on Tuesday received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Mandhana posted a photo of herself getting vaccinated and she captioned the post on Instagram as: "1st dose. Please stay safe and get yourself #vaccinated."

Mandhana will next be seen in India's upcoming tour of England. India Women are set to lock horns against England Women in one-off Test, 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is. 2007 T20 World Cup-winning member Dinesh Karthik on Tuesday also received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

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A post shared by Smriti Mandhana (@smriti_mandhana)

He posted a photo on Twitter and he captioned the post as: "Vaccinated."

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Tuesday received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Bumrah posted a picture of himself getting vaccinated on Twitter and he captioned the post as: "Vaccinated. Please stay safe everyone."

On Monday, India skipper Virat Kohli, pacer Ishant Sharma, and batsman Cheteshwar Pujara also received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, and Ajinkya Rahane had taken their first jab.

Rahane, Umesh, Ishant, Kohli, Bumrah, and Pujara will be next seen in action when India locks horns against New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). 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 the 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 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 told ANI.

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.