The fifth Test between England and India will not happen, as scheduled, at Old Trafford. The two teams and boards have decided to call it off with the BCCI offering to reschedule the Test in a later window.
The cancellation came hours before the toss after India's camp voiced concerns about playing in the situation. India's physio Yogesh Parmar had tested COVID-19 positive on Thursday, causing chaos and concern.
However, it seems that the BCCI is not happy with Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli for having attended a public event in London last week, which could be where the coach got infected.
Speaking to IANS, a BCCI official said that it all started with "one breach". "One mistake can make things difficult for everybody. The coach and the captain went out for a book launch and here we are seeing COVID-19 cases within the team. This is scary," the official added.
According Times of India, a top BCCI official had said after the Oval Test that “the board will probe the matter” and that "the coach and the captain will be asked to explain the circumstances after the fourth Test at Oval.”
"The action of the team hasn't gone down well with the board," TOI quoted a BCCI official as saying.
The BCCI had been embarrassed after pictures of the touring contingent at the launch were shared with them. While the players weren't in a bio-secure bubble till then, the Manchester Test was expected to see them be in one. Earlier in July, the BCCI had specifically spoken to the players to avoid crowded situations.
Shastri tested positive during the fourth Test at The Oval and has been in isolation since, along with bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar and physio Nitin Patel.
On Thursday, India's practice session before the final Test was cancelled after an Indian cricket board official confirmed that second physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.
But later it was reported that the match would go ahead after the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed there were no further positive cases in the Indian camp. Things however moved quite quickly on Friday, with the game being called off, around 2 hours before start.
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