ECB revises its statement on 5th Test against India, removes reference to 'forfeit' by Team India
The ECB initially said in its statement that India had forfeited the match, but later took the word down and modified the sentence.
The fifth and final Test between India and England was announced as cancelled, hours before its commencement at the Old Trafford Manchester on Friday. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) released an official statement to confirm the development, citing multiple Covid cases in the visitors' camp as the reason. However, minutes later, the ECB retracted a part of the statement which mentioned India would 'forfeit' the final Test.
“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. We send our sincere apologies to fans and partners for this news, which we know will cause immense disappointment and inconvenience to many," the statement added.
The ECB initially said in the statement that India had forfeited the match but later took the word down and modified the sentence.
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Here’s the old statement released by the English cricket board:
_1631264230364.jfif "Initial statement issued by the ECB on cancellation of 5th Test which say India have forfieted the game(Twitter)")
Ahead of the fifth and final Test against England, India team physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive for Covid-19 in Manchester. This had led to the cancellation of India's training session on Thursday afternoon. Later, the entire Indian squad returned positive tests but that wasn't enough for the cricket boards of both nations to carry on with the schedule.
Meanwhile, several media reports have stated that a few Indian players denied to take the field amid the Covid outburst. News agency PTI have reported that the cancelled fifth Test can be played later. However, a confirmation from BCCI's side on the exact situation is yet to come.
Earlier on Sunday, just half an hour before the start of play on Day 4 of the fourth Test, the BCCI said its medical team had isolated Shastri, Bharat Arun, Sridhar, and physio Nitin Patel as a precautionary measure after Shastri's lateral flow test returned positive on Saturday evening.
(With Agency Inputs)
