England vs India: Fifth Test in doubt? Team cancels training session after another COVID-19 positive result

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly admitted that he was unsure whether the match at Old Trafford would go ahead as planned.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli in a training session in Manchester on Wednesday. (Image: Twitter/BCCI)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Sep 9, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The final Test match of the five-match series between England and India seems to be in serious doubt after a team physio reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar was part of the team’s training session at Old Trafford on Wednesday morning. In the evening, his report came back positive. Basically, he spent an entire morning with the whole team while he was reportedly carrying the virus. It is believed that he and everybody else were unaware of the situation. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, the Indian cricket team has called off training on Thursday, just a day before the final Test. Hence, the Manchester Test is now in serious doubt as there is a good chance that some of the first-team players could be infected by the virus. It will be interesting to see if the match is suspended or called off.

Parmar had reportedly held a number of recovery sessions with several Indian players until Wednesday. Fans are hoping that the infection rate is not too serious, but things do seem quite dull at the moment. If the match indeed is called off, then India will win the series 2-1. Certainly, a situation that will not go down well with the English contingent as they still have a chance to tie the series. On the flip side, if it is England that is handed the victory after India are forced to forfeit, the series would be level 2-2 and India would not have recorded a series win at England despite winning more games than the hosts. The situation certainly is not ideal for any of the sides involved.

When asked about the situation, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly admitted that he was unsure whether the match at Old Trafford would go ahead as planned. “We don’t know if the match will happen at the moment. Hopefully, we can get some game,” Ganguly said at the book launch of ‘Mission Domination’ in Kolkata on Thursday.

INDIAN CONTINGENT HIT HARD BY COVID

Earlier, head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach B. Arun, and fielding coach R. Sridhar were diagnosed COVID-19 positive during the fourth Test in London last week. It resulted in all three missing the Oval Test, and if the Manchester Test goes on ahead, they will miss it as well. The virus situation in the Indian camp is surely becoming a rather problematic matter and an air of uncertainty surrounds the fifth Test at the moment.

As per a report published in an Indian newspaper The Hindu, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is understood to have been keen on the abandonment of the Test. The aim was to ensure all the players would be available in time for the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) rescheduled second half, starting in the United Arab Emirates from September 19. However, the board would certainly not like it if the victory was handed to the English team, citing a forfeit. That, however, would be an unlikely scenario.

India are currently leading England 2-1 in the Test series. Virat Kohli and his boys recorded a mammoth victory in the fourth Test match at the Oval. They have put losing the series beyond all possibility, and a draw in the final match of the series, should it go ahead, would ensure a historic Test series win in the backyard of the Three Lions.





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