Rishabh Pant gets first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, urges everyone to get vaccinated

Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant on Thursday received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Delhi. The star wicketkeeper-batsman also urged people to get the vaccine as quickly as possible, adding "the sooner we do it, the sooner we can beat the virus". Pant took to Twitter to share a picture of himself getting the jab in his left arm. The 23-year-old explosive batsman is all set to travel with the Indian contingent for the World Test Championship (WTC) final in the United Kingdom next month. 

Earlier, Indian skipper Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, and Ishant Sharma received their first jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine. Both Kohli and Ishant shared their experiences on social media, where they could be seen getting vaccinated at a centre just like everyone else. Shikhar Dhawan and Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane too had received the first vaccine doses recently. Team coach Ravi Shastri, legendary cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev were among the other cricketers who have taken the vaccine dose.

IPL 2021

The entire cricket fraternity suffered a huge blow this month after the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was abruptly cancelled by the BCCI over the worsening COVID-19 crisis that had reached bio-secure bubbles of multiple franchises. BCCI called off IPL 2021 on May 4 and arranged for everyone to get back home safely. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said that the IPL has not been cancelled as the remainder of the matches will be held after deciding on an available window. 

It is not yet clear when the IPL will restart, but media reports suggest that the BCCI could conduct the remaining matches of the cash-rich tournament in September this year, before the start of the ICC T20 World Cup. Reports suggest that the remainder of the tournament could be held in UAE later this year, where the ICC is also contemplating hosting the T20 World Cup in case the ongoing COVID-19 situation remains grim in India.

IMAGE: RishabhPant/Twitter