Sourav Ganguly reveals why 5th Test against England cancelled: "India players were dead scared"

New Delhi, September 13: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly revealed India cricketers were "dead scared" when they came to know that physio Yogesh Parmar had contracted COVID-19 ahead of the fifth Test against England.

The fifth Test match between England and India was cancelled in Manchester on Friday after Parmar was tested positive for the virus a day ago of the Test.

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 game.

"The players refused to play but you can't blame them. Physio Yogesh Parmar was such a close contact of the players. Being the only one available after Nitin Patel isolated himself, he mixed freely with the players and even performed their Covid-19 tests," Ganguly said in an interaction with the Kolkata-based Telegraph.

"He also used to give them a massage, he was part of their everyday lives. The players were devastated when they came to know that he had tested positive for Covid-19.

They feared they must have contracted the disease and were dead scared. It's not easy staying in a bubble. Of course, you have to respect their feelings," he added.

The BCCI has offered to ECB a rescheduling of the cancelled fifth Test match which was scheduled to be played at Manchester from Friday.

The BCCI President said the rescheduled game will be a one-off Test when India and England next lock horns in a bilateral series.

"The Old Trafford Test has been cancelled. They (ECB) have incurred a lot of losses and it's not going to be easy on them," said Ganguly.

"Let things settle down a bit, then we can discuss and decide. Whenever it's held next year, it should be a one-off match since it cannot be a continuation of the series anymore," he added.