5th Test off as Covid enters Indian camp
The fifth and final Test in Manchester was cancelled due to Covid concerns, match could be rescheduled
THE ECB FIRST SAID INDIA HAD ‘FORFEITED’ THE MATCH, BUT AFTER NEGOTIATIONS ‘FORFEITED’ WAS DROPPED FROM REVISED STATEMENT
MUMBAI: Team India’s players went to sleep on Thursday night not knowing if there was going to be a fifth and final Test to cap a long tour of England. But, in their minds, they didn’t want to play, aware that Covid-19 had infiltrated their changing room.
On Wednesday, physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive, four days after coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun, and fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar, tested positive.
The players feared that the virus would continue to spread among the contingent even though they all tested negative on Wednesday.
“I don’t think India has ever won three Test matches in a series in England. Why would we not want to play?” a player who did not want to be named said, referring to the 2-1 scoreline with a win at the Oval earlier this week. “Too many of us were treated by the physio who has tested positive. There is every chance the virus might spread” — this was also what a senior group of players told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to convince them to call off the fifth Test.
The match was finally cancelled on the morning of what would have been the first day’s play with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) — which had given a go-ahead to the match the previous evening — releasing a statement. The release said that India had “forfeited” the match — soon after, as negotiations between the two boards continued, “forfeited” was dropped from the statement and the match simply stood cancelled as a result of a “joint decision” between the two boards.
MUMBAI: Team India’s players went to sleep on Thursday night not knowing if there was going to be a fifth and final Test to cap a long tour of England. But, in their minds, they didn’t want to play, aware that Covid-19 had infiltrated their changing room.
On Thursday, physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive, four days after coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun, and fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar, tested positive. All of them had received both doses of the vaccine.
The players, many of whom are travelling with families, feared that the virus would continue to spread among the contingent, and could manifest itself in the next few days even though they all tested negative on Wednesday.
“I don’t think India has ever won three Test matches in a series in England. Why would we not want to play?” a player who did not want to be named said, referring to the 2-1 scoreline with a win at the Oval earlier this week. “Too many of us were treated by the physio who has tested positive. There is every chance the virus might spread”—this was also what a senior group of players told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to convince them to call off the fifth Test.
The match was finally cancelled on the morning of what would have been the first day’s play with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB)—which had given a go-ahead to the match the previous evening—releasing a statement. The release said that India had “forfeited” the match—soon after, as negotiations between the two boards continued, “forfeited” was dropped from the statement and the match simply stood cancelled as a result of a “joint decision” between the two boards.
The status of the cancelled Test remains uncertain, as does the result of the series, which is part of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
How the drama unfolded
The first piece of news that came from England early on Friday was that talks had resumed between the two boards with hours to go for the match.
The India team had already communicated their position to the BCCI, prompting the administrators to begin exploring the possibility of salvaging the Test by pushing it back by a day or two.
A longer delay was impossible with the IPL beginning on September 19, and players from both the sides being participants. There was a risk for the BCCI, too, for if the virus spread as quickly as feared, the IPL itself could be hit with 21 Indian players currently on tour in the UK.
PTI reported that it was captain Virat Kohli who led the players in their demand for cancellation, which involved several rounds of talks between the players and the BCCI, as well as ECB Chief Executive Tom Harrison, who tried to convince a “visibly scared Indian skipper”.
“The BCCI wanted them to play but such were the anxiety levels among some notable senior players that both boards were concerned about their mental health. One can understand that they were scared of another 10-day isolation and bubble life,” PTI quoted an unnamed BCCI official as saying.
Physio Parmar was tested for Covid after he reported symptoms immediately after India’s training session at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Parmar had taken over from Nitin Patel as the team’s chief physio since Patel was isolating in London after being identified as a close contact of Shastri’s. Since most members of the team had been treated at some point or the other by Parmar on Wednesday, players feared that many of them may have been exposed to the virus.
“You could say that we all had close contact with Parmar,” said the player quoted earlier.
In their talks with the BCCI, the players also expressed concerns about their families. Several members of the team have their families in England with them, including Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, and Ajinkya Rahane.
A little more than two hours before the scheduled start of the Manchester Test, the ECB put out this statement: “Following ongoing conversations with the BCCI, the ECB can confirm that the fifth Test between England and India Men due to start today at Emirates Old Trafford, will be cancelled.”
Where does the series stand now?
The next point of interest was deciding the winners of the unfinished series. During the course of discussions between the two boards the previous evening, it emerged England wanted India to forfeit the series and the Pataudi trophy be shared 2-2.
The BCCI disagreed, citing the sudden Covid outbreak and preferred being declared the winners (2-1) and the World Test Championship points of the final Test be shared. It was England’s turn to refuse the offer.
To add to the drama, soon after the ECB’s initial statement that India agreed to “forfeit the match”, and then the revised version, the BCCI too released a statement. “In lieu of the strong relationship between BCCI and ECB, the BCCI has offered to ECB a rescheduling of the cancelled Test match. Both the Boards will work towards finding a window to reschedule this Test match,” it said.
“The BCCI has always maintained that the safety and wellbeing of the players is of paramount importance and there will be no compromise on that aspect.”
The rescheduled Test match is likely next summer when India tour England for the white-ball leg. But it’s not clear if that game would decide the winner or if it would be a standalone Test match.
“Over the course of yesterday, we tried to make sure we give different assurances that could comfort the Indian players. We tested again and those tests came negative. But once you have some sense of concern and anxiety in dressing room, it can be very difficult. We have been here before,” ECB CEO Harrison told Sky Sports.
England were in the same boat when their players got jittery during their tour of South Africa last year after a Covid outbreak in both the teams, and the tour was called off.
The winners of this series could also be decided by the International Cricket Council (ICC) based on their reading of the WTC playing regulations.
“Let’s put it this way, the prospects of us playing a one-off Test match against India as a focal point on this ground (Old Trafford) to come back and give fans who have missed out, a chance,” Harrison said. “Let’s try and work on that.”