India vs England 5th Test set to be postponed, senior Indian players raise concerns

The start of fifth Test between India and England in Manchester is set to be pushed back from Friday (September) after assistant physion Yogesh Parmar tested COVID-19 positive on Thursday.

India's 5th Test against England in Manchester is set to be postponed. (Source: Twitter)

The fifth and final Test between England and India is not expect to begin on Friday (September 10) as scheduled, and a final decision on whether the match will take place is awaited. The development comes on the back of intense discussions between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England Cricket Board (ECB) after India’s assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar returned a positive COVID-19 test on Thursday.

It is belived that more than one India player had expressed concerns about taking the field in talks between the BCCI and the team management over the last two days, according to ESPNCricinfo website. The entire India squad returned negative RT-PCR tests on Thursday, but results of a fresh round of testing are expected on Friday morning.

Just hours before the start of the opening day of the fifth Test between England and India, Kolkata Knight Riders wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik took to social media to inform play has been called off for the opening day. The fate of the fifth Test between India and England hangs in balance despite all visiting players returning negative COVID-19 results.

Karthik in a series of tweets also asked the ‘bigger question’ that whether the game will happen at all. “Looks like there won’t be any play today guys,” Karthik tweeted. “The bigger question is, will the match happen at all ???? And what does the scoreline for the series look like if not,” he further asked in a tweet.

NO PLAY TODAY

ok Tata bye bye #ENGvsIND — DK (@DineshKarthik) September 10, 2021

“NO PLAY TODAY ok Tata bye bye,” Karthik added.