CHENNAI The fifth and final Test between India and England, scheduled to begin at Manchester on Friday has been cancelled after Virat Kohli & Co expressed concerns about taking the field.
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 in a statement
Although the BCCI had asked the players to get on with the match in a communication sent late Thursday night, things changed overnight with the Indian players putting up a firm stance. And following a fresh round of talks between BCCI and ECB, the match has now been cancelled.
"Following ongoing conversations with the BCCI, the ECB can confirm that the fifth LV= Insurance Test between England and India Men due to start today at Emirates Old Trafford, will be cancelled," the ECB said in a statement.
"Due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India are regrettably unable to field a team," it added.
Although all the Indian contingent tested negative in the RT-PCR tests taken on Thursday, players have been concerned about taking the field as several of them are believed to be close contacts of assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar, who tested Covid positive on Wednesday.
It is understood that the ECB wasn't willing to cancel the Test and stood firm on either delaying the match by a couple of days or asked India to forfeit. Although it won't have altered the World Test Championship points, India are in no mood to concede the Test.
Indian team, meanwhile, is expected to stay under isolation until further updates.