England vs India, 2021: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly Gives Update On The Situation For The 5th Test In Manchester

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, in a conversation, gave an update on the situation with the fifth Test between England and India which is to begin on September 10^th in Old Trafford Manchester but has dark clouds over it thanks to the Covid scare in the Indian camp.

It is to be noted here that before the start of the fourth Test between the two sides in Oval in London, four Indian coaching staff members in head coach Ravi Shastri was found Covid positive and along with him bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar and physiotherapist Nitin Patel were put into isolation as a precautionary measure.

However, after RT-PCR tests, all of the other three members were found to be Covid positive as well and will have to isolate for 10 days. This led to the Indian team playing the fourth Test without their main support staff including three of their coaches.

Sourav Ganguly Says There Are Lots Of Fingers Crossed And Everyone Is Hoping The Fifth Test Happens

However, on Thursday, September 9, 2021, another member of Indian support staff, assistant physio Yogesh Parmar was also found Covid positive leading to the team’s scheduled training session getting canceled and them being asked to stay in their hotel rooms until further tests could be carried out.

Sourav Ganguly gave an update at the book launch of ‘Mission Domination’ in Kolkata and said: “We have been terrific in England. Hopefully, we can get the Test match in Manchester tomorrow because there is a bit of Covid scare there as well. Lots of fingers crossed and let’s hope we can get past that. But we don’t know at the moment yet, as tests are been done and everything would be fine.”

In Last Test Match In Brisbane, We Were Picking Players Just To Make An XI: Sourav Ganguly Lauds Indian Team’s Spirit In Australia

Earlier during the same conversation, Sourav Ganguly was speaking about the Indian team’s performances outside Asia recently and recalled the majestic Test series win in Australia in 2020-21, especially the final Test in Brisbane, where Australia was defeated for the first time in 33 years.

“Let’s be honest, we have been playing well. The win in Australia, especially in Brisbane, where India came back from behind and chased 340 odd on the last day of the Test match in Australia, it has never ever happened. And especially when in the last match we were picking players just to see if we can make an XI, because of Injuries and Covid and that’s why it makes it more special,” Ganguly said.

Also Read: England vs India 2021: India’s Practice Session Cancelled After One Member From Support Staff Returned COVID-19 Positive: Reports