Manchester Test- the fifth and final Test in the ongoing series has been postponed indefinitely in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak within the India squad. In a statement released on Friday, the BCCI said it was in talks with the ECB over conducting the Manchester Test at a later date.
Soon after it emerged that the fifth Manchester Test between England and India at the Old Trafford was getting cancelled – which the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) first called forfeiture but soon changed it & the BCCI called postponement – the big talking point so far has been whether this series has ended up being 2-2 in favour of England and India or 2-1 in India’s favour, which was the result after the first four Tests.
Manchester Test To Be Rescheduled: BCCI And ECB Will Work Together
It remains to be seen how the boards can work out a window for the Manchester Test, though one could possibly be carved out when India returns to England next year for a scheduled limited-overs series.
This development seems to have ended the possibility of India having to forfeit the Manchester Test match, though further developments are awaited. News that the Manchester Test match wouldn’t begin as originally planned came in hours before the scheduled toss. The development came on the back of intense discussions between the BCCI and the ECB after India’s assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar returned a positive Covid-19 test on Wednesday.
“The BCCI and ECB held several rounds of discussion to find a way to play the Manchester Test Match, however, the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Indian team contingent forced the decision of calling off the Old Trafford Test Match. 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.”
More than one India player had expressed concerns about taking the field in talks between the BCCI and the team management over the last two days. The entire India squad returned negative RT-PCR tests on Thursday, but results of the second round of testing performed on Thursday are still awaited.
It is understood that the players and both boards suspect another case emerging from this round of tests, and hence the BCCI told the ECB that India would struggle to put out a playing XI for the fifth Manchester Test, which was to be played at Old Trafford from September 10 to 14.
A sense of confusion had spread among the Indian camp in the last two days even as the BCCI was in discussions with ECB over whether to carry on with the series or cancel the final Test. While the discussion carried on through the middle of Thursday night, the Indian contingent remained unaware of what decision the BCCI was going to take.
However, it is understood the BCCI did ask the players to keep their bags ready to fly out to the UAE for the IPL well ahead of the scheduled departure date of September 15, when the bulk of the India and England players were to board charter flights to join their franchises.
Yogesh Parmer’s Close Contacts Couldn’t Be Identified As He Was Training A Wider Group Of Players
After the entire squad returned negative RT-PCR tests on Thursday, it is understood that during one of the meetings with the BCCI, several players grouped into one room for the virtual discussion. Yogesh Parmar had only taken charge midway into the fourth Test at the Oval after lead physio Nitin Patel went into isolation after being identified as a close contact of India head coach Ravi Shastri, who tested positive for Covid-19 on the third evening of the fourth Test at The Oval.
While three members of the contingent – Nitin Patel, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar – were identified as immediate contacts of Ravi Shastri, it was far more difficult to determine who the close contacts of Yogesh Parmar were, considering he was treating a wider group of players. These players have been mingling among the wider group, which has made identifying close contacts even more complicated.
In their chats with the BCCI, the players were also concerned about the situation having an impact on their families. Most of the Indian players are travelling with their families. The key concern, though, for the BCCI was it did not want the UAE leg of the IPL 2021 to be impacted considering it is starting in nine days’ time.
With that in mind, the BCCI discussed cancelling the final Test, but the ECB is understood to have made it clear that it would interpret any refusal to play the Manchester Test as forfeiture. The BCCI was keen to avoid such a scenario, as not only would it see England square the series, but it could expose the BCCI to claims of lost revenue from broadcasters and the venue.
The World Test Championship competition terms state that a Covid-19 outbreak within a team is an acceptable reason for a Test to be abandoned – and not forfeited. With the WTC points system now calculated on the basis of the percentage of points contested, a four-Test series instead of five would not adversely impact a side’s points total.
“Following ongoing conversations with the BCCI, the ECB can confirm that the fifth LV= Insurance Manchester Test between England and India Men due to start today at Emirates Old Trafford, will be canceled. Due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India is regrettably unable to field a team.”
Had the boards not agreed to the postponement, the series result could have gone into the hands of the ICC match referee Chris Broad based on whether the ECB accepted India’s fears of a larger outbreak in their camp as “acceptable non-compliance” as per the WTC regulations. Cancellation would have given India a 2-1 series victory, and a forfeiture led to a 2-2 draw. Currently, India has pocketed 26 WTC points from the series while England has 14 out of the available 48 points.