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Sunil Gavaskar has urged people to find the truth before criticising the Indian team. The cancellation of the fifth Test match has thrown a lot of people into a puzzle. Initially, it was believed that the Indian team refused to take part in the series-deciding game in Manchester, with reports doing the rounds that players were not keen on taking the field after their physio Yogesh Parmar had tested positive.

Whereas later on, contradicting reports emerged, which stated that the calling off of the Manchester Test was not due to the outbreak of Covid but because of the uncertainty of what might happen next within the players, stated England and Wales Cricket Board CEO, Tom Harrison.

Sunil Gavaskar File image of former India captain | AFP

Sunil Gavaskar Urges To Find Out The Truth Before Criticizing India For 5th Manchester Test Cancellation

While many have been quick to jump the gun and blame India for the outbreak of Covid – Ravi Shastri’s book launch is taking most of it – and cancelling the final Test, former captain Sunil Gavaskar has urged people to find the truth before criticizing the Indian team.

“How does anyone know that it happened during the book launch? Because even after the book launch, when players were tested, they were negative. From what I’ve heard, the tests that took place on the eve of the match were all negative. So if none of our players were positive, what was the problem?” Gavaskar said on Sports Tak.

Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli during Shastri's book launch event in London | Twitter — Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli during Shastri’s book launch event in London | Twitter

“And reports that suggest the Indian players refused to play the match, I want to know who it was? These reports are only in English papers. They will never say or write anything good about the Indian team; they will always hold them responsible. Please find what is the truth and then point fingers.”

Sunil Gavaskar was also pissed with the fact that people in India were buying the lies that the English media was feeding them and were targeting their own team and players on social media, without knowing the whole truth.

Sunil Gavaskar Request Not To Make Allegations That Indian Team Refused To Play The 5th Test Without Any Proof

Sunil Gavaskar feels the chances of Indian players being the ones to refuse are slim, purely due to the manner in which they had performed in the Test series. With India leading it 2-1, with one game to go, Sunil Gavaskar reckons India would have instead been willing to take the field and finish the series 3-1 to register their maiden Test series win in England in 14 years.

“Our players worked so hard to lead the series 2-1. And in Manchester, their bowlers would have been aided… why wouldn’t they want to play? They would want to play the match because they can win the series 3-1.

“So I will never believe that Indian players refused to play the 5th Test. If these reports are true, then the BCCI needs to officially say, that Yes, our players said that they won’t play. Else, I would request not to make such claims without any proof,” the former India batsman added.

Various reports in English media speculated that the English board wasn’t pleased with India’s head coach Ravi Shastri for attending his book launch event with several members of the team two days before the fourth Test. Some reports also claimed that some of the Indian players, despite testing negative for the coronavirus on the eve of the fifth Test, weren’t very keen on taking the field and that’s why the match had to be called off.

The BCCI or the ECB both released their respective statements and there was no mention of any of the reasons stated above, which leads to the question of whether any of it was actually true or was just lies spread by the English media to tarnish the image of the Indian cricket team and portray them as the villains.Besides Ravi Shastri, several other Indian players, including skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, had also gone to the same event and none of them tested positive for the virus.