Picture Credit: Twitter
There is still no clarity on the Women's Big Bash League matches which are scheduled to be played in Hobart. While an ideal scenario would have seen the matches roll out at the scheduled venue, the Australian state of Tasmania is set to go on a three-day lockdown due to rise in Coronavirus cases in the country which could impact the fixtures.
As many as four matches were slated to be played at the Bellerive Oval on October 19 and 20. Notably, Hobart is named as the host of the 20 matches of the ongoing season of the WBBL before they were shifted to other venues - Adelaide, Perth and Mackay. It is also worth highlighting that out of the eight teams who are participating in the competition, seven have already reached the city but Perth Scorchers decided to postpone their travel to Tasmania by 24 hours.
"The Weber Women's Big Bash League acknowledges the decision of the Tasmanian Government to call a three-day lockdown in the interests of public health," WBBL put out in a message on social media.
"The health and safety of our players, staff, match officials and partners, along with that of the wider community, remains our top priority," the notice added.
"We are currently working with the Tasmanian Government on options for the upcoming Weber WBBL|07 matches at Blundstone Arena, Hobart this weekend," it further read.
"All players, staff and match officials in Tasmania for the Weber WBBL have received COVID-19 vaccinations and received the required negative COVID-19 test results. All are currently participating in training at Blundstone Arena or at team hotels," read the concluding lines of the message.
Check out the tweet from the Women's Big Bash League here:
Meanwhile, as many as eight Indian players are participating in the ongoing Women's Big Bash League. Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav and Jemimah Rodrigues are the Indian stars featuring in the competition. While Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma are representing the Sydney Thunder; Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues will be playing for Melbourne Renegades.
Richa Ghosh is donning the Hobart Hurricanes' kit this year, Brisbane Heat have roped in Poonam Yadav. Radha Yadav and Shafali Verma are part of the Sydney Sixers. Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers have no Indian stars in their squads.