Revealed: ECB Had Been Informed By The BCCI On The Eve Of Manchester Test About The Players' Unwillingness To Take To The Field

Virat Kohli-led India was heading into the 5th and final Test against Joe Root led England with the 2-1 lead in the series on September 10 at Old Trafford, Manchester. However, the match was canceled after the Covid-19 scare in the Indian camp.

Notably, on Wednesday evening team India reached Manchester for the final Test and the RT-PCR test was conducted on all the members and staff including Assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, around 10 am (BST) the players were given the news that a member has been contracted the virus and the member was Yogesh Parmar. The news was soon sent to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah by Team manager Girish Dongre.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

Meanwhile, on Thursday somewhere around 11 am, Seniors players of the Indian team including captain Virat Kohli, Vice Captain Ajinkya Rahane, and Rohit Sharma requested BCCI secretary Jay Shah to inform the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that the players don’t want to play the game with the risk of becoming Covid-19 carriers.

BCCI Informed ECB About Players Hesitance To Play 5th Test One Day Before The Match

The Indian team decided not to have a practice session ahead of the 5th Test match and they were advised not to meet anyone and stay in their rooms. Also, The BCCI had a talk with ECB and the negotiation between the boards began and ECB insisted on pushing the game back by 2 days to complete the marquee series.

After that in a team meeting, many seniors stated that they don’t want to play as there is a lot of risks involved as they were in close contact with Yogesh Parmar. Meanwhile, Around 9 pm one more RT-PCR Test was conducted on every member of the Indian contingent. Also the BCCI secretary Jay Shah was having continuous talks with the ECB regarding the situation.

Meanwhile, on Friday morning a video call meeting took place between BCCI secretary Jay Shah, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ajinkya Rahane and they all were against the 5th Test match taking place. Just like England called off their South Africa tour last year midway due to Covid concerns BCCI did the same.

Later ECB issues a statement saying India was “unable to field a team and will instead forfeit the match”. However, later the statement was modified and it was stated the match has been canceled. Also, ECB and BCCI jointly decided that the match will be played at a later date.

Meanwhile, later the players were informed that they will have to be under isolation as BCCI will be shifting players from England to UAE for the second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL ) 2021.

Also Read: India Squad For T20 World Cup 2021: 3 Pairs Whose Success Can Be A Title-Winning Guarantee