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

Manchester, September 10: The fifth Test between India and England scheduled to begin from Friday (September 10) is cancelled amid Covid-19 scare in the India camp, said a statement from England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

"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 (September 10) at Emirates Old Trafford, will be cancelled," the official statement by ECB stated.

"Due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India are unable to field a team and will instead forfeit the match.

"We send our sincere apologies to fans and partners for this news, which we know will cause immense disappointment and inconvenience to many. Further information will be shared in due course," said the statement.

However, the ECB later updated the original statement and deleted the word - forfeit. Instead they re-coined the sentence: "Due to fears of a further increase in the number of Covid cases India are regrettably unable to field a team."

Earlier, it came to light that the first day of the 5th Test was pushed back. This came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had long discussions on Thursday (September 9) and Friday (September 10).

The sources said more test results of the players and support staff will be taken into consideration before taking a call.

"Yes, it is not starting today. More test results are awaited before a call is taken on
starting on Saturday (September 11)," the source told ANI.

Ahead of the fifth and final Test against England, India assistant physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive for COVID-19 in Manchester.

This had led to Team India's training session for Thursday afternoon being cancelled. However, there are no COVID-19 related worries in the England camp and Jos Buttler said everything is fine and the hosts are looking forward to the game.

"We don't know too much about it at the moment. It would be naive to speculate on what's going on. At the moment we're fully expecting the game to go ahead and we're preparing that way so fingers crossed the game will go ahead. Things are fine in our camp and we are looking forward to the game," said Buttler in a virtual press conference.

This came after India head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar returned positive results to their RT-PCR tests during the fourth Test.

They are currently undergoing isolation and can come out only after returning two negative results.

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.

The remaining members of the Team India contingent had undergone two Lateral Flow Tests -- one on Saturday night and another on Sunday morning. The members upon returning negative COVID reports were allowed to proceed for Day 4 of the fourth Test at The Oval against England.

(More to follow)