India vs England 2021: Fate of the series still hangs in balance

Bengaluru, September 10: After the the cancellation of the fifth and final Test between England and India which was supposed to start in Old Trafford, Manchester, on Friday (September 19), due to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the fate of the series still hangs in balance after the host board claimed a forfeiture by the tourists only to withdraw the statement.

The England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) statement on the match went from India "unable to field a team and will instead forfeit the match" to India "regrettably unable to field a team" after skipper Virat Kohli led a steadfast refusal by the visiting players to take the field.

The development came after the tourists were left on tenterhooks following physio Yogesh Parmar's positive COVID-19 test that led to concerns that the infection could spread during the match.

India vs England 5th Test: The Old Trafford Test cancelled due to Covid-19 scare

As for the series, its status was still not clear. India are 2-1 ahead and have not been officially declared winners.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has claimed that both boards will work towards rescheduling the match.

"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," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said.

BCCI says it is working with ECB to reschedule the cancelled fifth Test at Manchester

However, ECB CEO Tom Harrison said the game would be a one-off instead of being a decider for the series.

"No, I think it's a stand-alone situation. We've been offered a few other options, probably need to take a look (at those)," Harrison was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

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The only plausible window for such an arrangement seems to be July next year when the India team visits England for a six-match white-ball series.

It is understood that the COVID-19 rules for the World Test Championship (WTC) matches do not include forfeiture and that is where Kohli and his men were able to get their way.

Under the competition terms of the WTC, COVID-19 is identified as "acceptable non-compliance should there be a significant impact of it on the team being able to play."

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The chances of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) schedule, starting September 19, going haywire were also taken into account as broadcasters and franchises would not have taken the delay lightly.

Also, deferring the Test by a day or two would have caused logistical issues as the Indian and English players were supposed to fly together to the UAE in a charter flight.

"There is no guarantee that post Ravi Shastri's book release function which the team attended, there won't be more cases. So players were wary and more so about being in isolation for 10 days," a source said.

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That book release function has caused uneasiness within the BCCI with an official saying that no permissions were sought despite clear message from Shah to avoid gatherings.

"No permission was sought either from president (Sourav Ganguly) or from the secretary (Jay Shah). Perhaps they might've thought that since health safety rules have been relaxed in the UK, they didn't need permission," the senior official, privy to the developments, told PTI news agency on conditions of anonymity.