‘India let English cricket down’

The cancellation of the India vs England fifth and final Test match at Old Trafford in Manchester led to varied reactions from former cricketers and experts. Drawing reference to England's decision to return from South Africa last year, former England captain Michael Vaughan said 'India let English cricket down.' 

Barely two hours before the scheduled start of play, the fifth and final Test of the series was called off following a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. 

"India have let English Cricket down !!! But England did let South African Cricket down !!!" Vaughan tweeted.

The former England captain was referring to England's stance last year when they decided to fly back home midway from the South Africa ODI series following Covid-19 cases in their camp. 

BCCI in an official release said that both the Indian and England cricket boards will work towards rescheduling the Manchester Test. 

"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 said. 

India's entire touring party was forced to isolate in its Manchester hotel on Thursday after assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar was the latest person to test positive for the virus. India coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharath Arun, fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar and main physio Nitin Patel had already tested positive.

India was leading the series 2-1.

The ECB statement initially said India had forfeited the test and the series was drawn 2-2. That was quickly amended and the final result was unclear.

"We send our sincere apologies to fans and partners for this news, which we know will cause immense disappointment and inconvenience to many," the ECB said.