The fifth test match between India and England, which was set to begin today, has been cancelled, according to the England and Wales Cricket Board. On Thursday, another member of Team India's support staff tested positive for Covid. However, on the same day, all Indian players were tested negative, and it was assumed that the match would be played as planned, but it was not to be.
Amid all this, The England Cricket Board (ECB) said that the England team should be declared the winner of the match as Indian players have refused to play the last and final test match, but the BCCI denied and said that if the team had to play even under the shadow of Covid-19, then it would play. According to the report of TOI, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are also not in favor of giving up. They said that either England accept their 2-1 defeat in the series or the Indian team will play the match.
Also Read: India vs England 5th Test Cancelled Over Covid-19 Fears; BCCI Says Players' Safety Most Important
The match has been cancelled because the boards are worried about the health of the players, as Team India's physio Yogesh Parmar has come corona positive. Earlier, other staff including Ravi Shastri, head coach of Team India, have tested corona positive.
Reportedly, some players had also expressed concern.
The test report of the entire team India came negative, yesterday, but the final report is yet to come. The final report would reveal the exact status of players of team India.
In this series, India had taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match series after a crushing victory at The Oval, where they won by 157 runs. It is expected that the remaining fifth match would happen in July 2022, at that time India will play three one-day internationals and three T20 internationals in England.
But if India is declared the winner of the series, then India will win the Test series against England after 14 years (after 2007).