India cricketers test negative for Covid-19, 5th Test Old at Trafford likely to go ahead

Manchester, September 9: All the 21 players of the India Test squad have tested negative for COVID-19, a development that clears the decks for the fifth Test against England to proceed as scheduled from Friday (September 10) after the uncertainty triggered by a positive case in the visiting contingent.

The entire Indian group had to undergo RT-PCR tests after assistant physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday (September 9).

The Indians had already lost their head physio Nitin Patel, who is currently in isolation after testing positive along with head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun in London. The fielding coach R Sridhar too is in isolation while batting coach Vikram Rathour has taken over as acting coach for the time being.

"All the players have returned with negative test," a senior BCCI official told PTI. While chances have increased of the Test match happening, sources are also saying that at least one senior Indian player doesn't want to take the field as he fears someone might test positive while playing the game.

The BCCI is trying to persuade that particular senior cricketer, whose family is also against him playing the game, according to a source. More clarity on the issue will come out as the hours progress towards the Old Trafford Test.

Earlier, there was massive ucertainty over the fifth and final Test at Manchester after Parmar was tested positive. The anxiety was created because in the absence of senior physio Nitin Patel, Parmar was in close proximity with several Indian players over the last few days assisting in their recovery like Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Both Rohit and Pujara were copping injuries to their legs they sustained during the fourth Test at the Oval but they have been cleared to play the fifth Test.

India are leading the series 2-1 at this juncture after winning the Oval Test by 157 runs.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top brass have been in constant touch with their counterparts in the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) since Parmar's new broke.

The BCCI, it is learnt that, offered the option of abandoning the fifth Test at the risk invoking the claims of lost revenue from the broadcasters and the venue management, in this case the Old Trafford cricket ground managed by Lancashire.

However, the ECB was not ready to abandon the Test and insisted it would be considered as a forfeiture by Inda. And that would have given England a series-squaring win even without stepping on to the field.

The BCCI was very keen to avoid such a scenario and the senior players and the team management left the decision to the BCCI, even though some of them aired their concerns during the virtual meeting that included skipper Virat Kohli, BCCI officials and coach Shastri.

However, it may recalled that the World Test Championshiop rules allowes for abandonment of a Test in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak within one of the playing teams. In that case, it will not be considered as a forfeiture and the teams will not lose points either.

The Test series between India and England is part of the WTC cycle 2021-22.