India vs England 5th Test: Forfeited, cancelled or rescheduled?

The fifth Test between India and England was cancelled on Friday (September 10) amid a chaotic turn of events during which the host board's statement on the visitors changed from ‘unable to field a team and will instead forfeit the match’ to ‘regrettably unable to field a team’. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) declared that they will make an effort to reschedule this Test on their next tour of England in 2022.

The development came after the visiting team was left on tenterhooks following physio Yogesh Parmar's positive COVID-19 test that led to concerns that the infection could spread during the match which was cancelled a couple of hours before toss.

It is learnt that led by skipper Virat Kohli, who had the biggest apprehension of playing the game, the players, late on Thursday, got into a huddle and couldn't be convinced by the BCCI brass to play the game. The initial statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board categorically mentioned the word ‘forfeit’ but that was later omitted from a revised media release.

“Due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India are regrettably unable to field a team,” read the revised England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement. A COVID-19-related quarantine would have meant missing out on IPL matches, starting September 19.

As of now, India are 2-1 ahead and have not been officially declared winners simply because there could be a chance of the fifth Test being played during the window in July next year when the team visits for a six-match white-ball series.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) along with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have jointly decided to call off the 5th Test Match scheduled at Manchester in ongoing India’s tour of England 2021. The BCCI and ECB held several rounds of discussion to find a way to play the Test Match, however, the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Indian team contingent forced the decision of calling off the Old Trafford Test Match," a BCCI statement read.

"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. The BCCI has always maintained that the safety and well-being of the players is of paramount importance and there will be no comprise on that aspect. The BCCI would like to thank the ECB for their co-operation and understanding in these trying times.  We would like to apologise to the fans for not being able to complete an enthralling series," the statement added.

Everyone figuring about 5th Test on twitter #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/cWJeKo80XR

— DK (@DineshKarthik) September 10, 2021

It is understood that COVID-19 rule for the World Test Championship matches doesn’t include forfeiture and that’s where Kohli and his men were able to get their way. Under the competition terms of the WTC, COVID-19 is identified as ‘acceptable non-compliance should there be a significant impact of it on the team being able to play’.

This is because the match can remain cancelled from the competition and with International Cricket Council (ICC) using percentage points system based on points won in matches played, a cancelled match is of no value to any team. The Indian players had tested negative for the virus on Thursday but the 96-hour incubation period also factored in, they didn't want to risk returning positive and ending in 10-day quarantine, according to BCCI sources.

It could also have meant a 10-day isolation for some of the players, who play in the Indian Premier League. There were many questions that cropped up during the last 12 hours for BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah with a number of factors being taken into account.

The Indian and English players were supposed to fly together in a charter flight. Also, deferring the game by a day or two would have caused logistical issues.

“There is no guarantee that post Ravi Shastri’s book release function which the team attended, there won’t be more cases. So players were wary and more so about being in isolation for 10 days,” a source said.

(with PTI inputs)