Manchester: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has asked the BCCI to forfeit the fifth and final Test of the ongoing series in Manchester in light of a support staff member testing positive for COVID-19. The Indian board was told that they will have to give England a walkover in case they want the hosts to accept their demand of cancelling the final Test match after another Indian support staff tested positive of Covid-19. The BCCI, however, has asserted that it wants to go ahead with the Test if the players test negative in the RT-PCR tests conducted earlier in the day.
However, India captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma have clearly said a ‘no’ to the proposition. The BCCI delegation which is meeting the ECB was in constant touch with two senior members of the team and they have made it clear that it is not going to happen.
“Virat and Rohit are learnt to have conveyed that, in absolutely clear terms, that the Indian team would not forfeit the match even if that meant playing it under Covid cloud,” the report stated. The BCCI further took up the matter with the ECB, who have relented and conveyed to these senior cricketers to “hold their horses”.
