Birmingham, July 31: India all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has recovered from COVID-19 and is set to join the women's cricket team at the Commonwealth Games. Vastrakar and S Meghana had to stay back in India after contracting COVID-19 ahead of their scheduled departure.
While Meghana played against Pakistan on Sunday, Vastrakar will be available for the final league game against Barbados on August 3. Her presence lends balance to the team combination.
"She will be arriving later tonight," an Indian Olympic Association (IOA) source told PTI.
After a dissapointing loss in its tournament opener against Australia, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets.
Chasing a paltry total, the Indian women's cricket team's star batter Smriti Mandhana scored a fifty. The Indian vice-captain single-handedly scored unbeaten 63 runs off just 42 balls to chase down the 100-run target with 38 balls remaining.
One of the star performers for India against Pakistan was spin all-rounder Sneh Rana, who took two wickets in the same over in her comeback game.
“It’s a special feeling - everything we planned in the net sessions worked out. It’s always a special when you play against Pakistan, but it’s also just another game,” she said after the game.
On the crowd at Edgbaston, which is believed to be a record crowd for a neutral women’s cricket match played in England, she added: “It’s fun playing in front of a huge crowd, when some of them are cheering for you. I could hear some of the fans cheering my name on the boundary and that felt really good.”