India vs England 5th Test 2021: Day One of Manchester Test cancelled as players’ safety at risk; BCCI-ECB meetings to continue | Cricket News – Times of India
MUMBAI: The fifth Test between England and India scheduled to begin at the Old Trafford in Manchester has been indefinitely postponed to a later date, probably next year.
The series will stand poised 2-1 in India’s favour until whenever the fifth Test match gets played. For now, the Indian team will wrap up their tour of England and move into a bio-bubble as per the Indian Premier League (IPL) protocols and start planning their journey to the UAE.
Between Thursday night and Friday morning, the BCCI and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) participated in a series of meetings that lasted until midnight and resumed at sunrise, UK time.
All this while, the ECB maintained the following: A) Delay Test by two days; B) Cancel.
The BCCI consulted players who in turn said a categorical no to the idea of forfeiture. “Play it at a later date,” they suggested. That would’ve ideally meant BCCI agreeing to the delay in playing the Test.
However, delaying the Test even by 24 hours would have put Phase-2 of the IPL at grave risk. Franchises have been camping in the UAE for close to three weeks now and have a bubble ready where players from the Indian team were supposed to join after the fifth Test.
Further, broadcast plans for the IPL, the finances of the league, the season’s commercial strategy, etc, have already been laid out and those tracking developments say, “it’s too late to make any changes to that schedule”.
The IPL cannot be delayed because it will then clash with the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup which begins a couple of days after the scheduled IPL final.
Therefore, postponing of this fifth Test match, even by a single day, would have a cascading set of repercussions and take a toll on multiple properties and plans being set in motion.
Further, coming back to the Team India camp, two things have clearly come to the fore: A) Players don’t want to risk Covid and participate in this Test at a time when they realise there’s been an active case around them the last 48 hours; B) The BCCI administration has been divided over cancellation and postponement.
Those in the know, and even those with an industry perspective, say “players’ safety is of primary importance. Everything else is secondary. On top of it, they are with their families. Nothing is above safety of individuals. If the Test can’t be postponed, cancel it”.
A bigger worry for the players has been the gestation period in case of contracting Covid, which takes anywhere between 48 hours to a week to show in test results. “How can they take the risk,” say those tracking developments.
Now that the Test has been indefinitely postponed, the BCCI can start planning for the IPL, followed by the T20 World Cup.
India, for the record, are scheduled to visit England in July 2022 for three one-day Internationals and three T20 Internationals. The Test could most likely be scheduled around that time.
The series will stand poised 2-1 in India’s favour until whenever the fifth Test match gets played. For now, the Indian team will wrap up their tour of England and move into a bio-bubble as per the Indian Premier League (IPL) protocols and start planning their journey to the UAE.
Between Thursday night and Friday morning, the BCCI and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) participated in a series of meetings that lasted until midnight and resumed at sunrise, UK time.
All this while, the ECB maintained the following: A) Delay Test by two days; B) Cancel.
The BCCI consulted players who in turn said a categorical no to the idea of forfeiture. “Play it at a later date,” they suggested. That would’ve ideally meant BCCI agreeing to the delay in playing the Test.
However, delaying the Test even by 24 hours would have put Phase-2 of the IPL at grave risk. Franchises have been camping in the UAE for close to three weeks now and have a bubble ready where players from the Indian team were supposed to join after the fifth Test.
Further, broadcast plans for the IPL, the finances of the league, the season’s commercial strategy, etc, have already been laid out and those tracking developments say, “it’s too late to make any changes to that schedule”.
The IPL cannot be delayed because it will then clash with the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup which begins a couple of days after the scheduled IPL final.
Therefore, postponing of this fifth Test match, even by a single day, would have a cascading set of repercussions and take a toll on multiple properties and plans being set in motion.
Further, coming back to the Team India camp, two things have clearly come to the fore: A) Players don’t want to risk Covid and participate in this Test at a time when they realise there’s been an active case around them the last 48 hours; B) The BCCI administration has been divided over cancellation and postponement.
Those in the know, and even those with an industry perspective, say “players’ safety is of primary importance. Everything else is secondary. On top of it, they are with their families. Nothing is above safety of individuals. If the Test can’t be postponed, cancel it”.
A bigger worry for the players has been the gestation period in case of contracting Covid, which takes anywhere between 48 hours to a week to show in test results. “How can they take the risk,” say those tracking developments.
Now that the Test has been indefinitely postponed, the BCCI can start planning for the IPL, followed by the T20 World Cup.
India, for the record, are scheduled to visit England in July 2022 for three one-day Internationals and three T20 Internationals. The Test could most likely be scheduled around that time.
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