Picture Credit: Twitter
India women's opening batter S Meghana has left for Birmingham and set to join the Indian camp ahead of their CWG opener against Australia on Friday. Reports suggest that team management might not consider her for selection in the tournament opener.
Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India had left for Commonwealth Games last week, but batter S Meghana and Pooja Vastrakar stayed back in India after both tested positive for COVID-19. After completing her isolation, Meghana took a flight to Birmingham on Thursday and shared a picture of the boarding pass on her social media.
Last week, without revealing the identity of the player, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly confirmed one COVID-19 case within the Indian camp in Bengaluru. On Tuesday, an Indian Olympic Association official confirmed to PTI that Vastrakar and Meghana were not part of the Indian contingent that flew out to Birmingham on Monday.
As per set 15-member cap on Indian team, reserve players like leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, all-rounder Simran Dill and wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh are all training in Bengaluru and will take the flight if required. Earlier, Indian skipper claimed that her squad is aiming to clinch gold in the historic tournament as it's her dream to stand on the podium.
"We all have watched Olympics and CWG during her childhood days. Having representing the nation in CWG 2022 is like a dream come true. We are aiming nothing less than gold as we want to replicate what Neeraj Chopra did in Tokyo Olympics. We all were filled with so much pride and joy in her heart. I want nation to relive those moments," said Harmanpreet Kaur ahead of leaving for Birmingham.
Team India will kick start their CWG 2022 campaign on Friday (29 July) against Australia, and Pakistan Women will clash against Barbados Women on the same day. Team India has been placed in Group A along with Australia, Pakistan Barbados, while Group B consists of England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa. The top two teams from each group will advance in the semi-final stage.