City’s India pacer Umesh Yadav on Saturday received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. “Vaccination done. A big thank you to all our health care workers and I urge everyone to get vaccinated when you get the opportunity,” Umesh said in a tweet. Yadav has been named in India’s squad for the upcoming final of the World Test Championship (WTC) and the five-match Test series against England. A BCCI official said that it will need some more time before a clear picture can be drawn regarding the vaccination for all India Test format cricketers.

 

“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 explained. The BCCI named a 20-member squad (two subject to fitness clearance) which will also have four standby players.

 

Of the four standby players, three are fast bowlers — Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla. Asked about their roles as the main squad already has six fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Md Shami, Md Siraj, Shardul Thakur apart from Yadav, the official said the standby players would double up as net bowlers. “See, six fast bowlers in the main squad should be good enough unless you are unfortunate and have multiple injuries. So, these three will double up as net bowlers while keeping preparations on to be ready to be drafted into the main squad if needed,” the official said. (With inputs from ANI)