Reports: Indian players fully vaccinated, set to undergo series of COVID-19 tests in England

Team England was hit by COVID-19 after their recently completed limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, as seven members had tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, the Indian team is currently in the United Kingdom for five-match Test series and has undergone tests for COVID-19 on Saturday, 10 July. They will now have to undergo further tests in the coming few weeks before the Test series starts on August 4.

Currently, the Indian team is enjoying a break and has been exploring England with their families. But with the deadly virus hitting the England team, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has coordinated with the UK’s National Health Service and already arranged for a second vaccination dose for all the members on July 7 and 9, as per Cricbuzz. England had to play with the second-string squad in their limited-overs series against Pakistan since all their first-choice players for the series have been under isolation and those tested positive under quarantine.

Meanwhile, another case of a positive COVID-19 was seen in the Derbyshire County team, who were supposed to take on Essex on Monday. The match has been cancelled, so has another one involving Kent County, whose one member had tested positive, leading to all the players and support staff being isolated for time being.

Indian players set to return from break and begin training

After a well-deserved break, the Indian players will return to training and will be put in Durham. The squad will be put in a bio-secure environment. After that, the Indian squad will feature in a couple of intra-squad games and a practice game against a Select County XI, starting from July 20 in Durham.

India’s premier off-spinner Ravi Ashwin is already playing county cricket for Sussex and is getting some much-needed game time before the five-match Test series. Ashwin has also previously played County cricket and feels the exposure and learning in the County circuit are good. Apart from Ashwin, even Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari have played Country cricket, and the trio’s experience will come in handy in the high-octane five-match Test series.