The Indian cricket board has offered the England and Wales Cricket Board to reschedule the Manchester Test after the ECB first said that Team India had forfeited the fifth Test, making the series tied at 1-1.
A statement by the BCCI said, “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) along with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have jointly decided to call off the 5th Test Match scheduled at Manchester in ongoing India’s tour of England 2021.
“The BCCI and ECB held several rounds of discussion to find a way to play the Test Match, however, the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Indian team contingent forced the decision of calling off the Old Trafford Test Match.”
The ECB first said that India had forfeited the fifth Test, but soon it removed the reference to ‘forfeit’ from its statement, leaving everyone in utter confusion.
The BCCI said, “In lieu of the strong relationship between BCCI and ECB, the BCCI has offered to ECB a rescheduling of the cancelled Test match. Both the Boards will work towards finding a window to reschedule this Test match.
“The BCCI has always maintained that the safety and well-being of the players is of paramount importance and there will be no comprise on that aspect.”
The BCCI said that it ‘would like to thank the ECB for their co-operation and understanding in these trying times’ and ‘apologise to the fans for not being able to complete an enthralling series.’
It's a mess, says former England skipper Nasser Hussain. #ManchesterTest pic.twitter.com/78CLFq4cQd
— Janta Ka Reporter (@JantaKaReporter) September 10, 2021
Rescheduling the fifth Test may not be easy as the second leg of the IPL starts in little over a week’s time. No wonder, former England skipper Nasser Hussain termed the situation ‘mess.’ He told Sky Sports, “Well, it’s an evolving situation. It’s a mess.”