The Indian and English cricket fans are pretty disappointed because of the cancellation of the fifth test match due to COVID-19 as one more support staff member of the Indian camp has tested positive. This is the fourth person from the Indian camp to test COVID-19 positive but the good thing is that all the players have tested negative.
Earlier, the head coach of team India Ravi Shastri tested positive and then two more support staff members also caught the virus after which these three were not allowed to travel to Manchester with the team. Initially, there was a buzz that only the first day of the fifth test match was cancelled but later on, the complete test match got cancelled.
Many including the officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are of the opinion that all this has happened because the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri attended a book launch event in London despite being instructed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah in writing not to attend any public function on the tour. The ECB is not happy with all this and though the BCCI has assured its cooperation in rescheduling the test match whenever possible, the English media has come upon Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli quite harshly for behaving irresponsibly.
However, former English cricketers Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen have come in support of the BCCI and reminded everyone that the ECB had also cancelled the South African tour due to the COVID-19 scare.
Michael Vaughan took to Twitter and wrote, “India have let English Cricket down!!! But England did let South African Cricket down!!!”
India have let English Cricket down !!! But England did let South African Cricket down !!!
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 10, 2021
Kevin Pietersen tweeted, “England left the tour of SA for COVID scares & cost CSA plenty, so don’t go pointing fingers!”
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1436242834378698755
The former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer also slammed the ECB as well as the English media and also reminded that India played the Oval test match without their coaching staff in order to honour their commitment.
His tweet read, “England were within their rights back then and so are India now. If anything India honoured their commitment and completed the Oval test despite entire coaching staff getting positive during the game. #ENGvsIND #perspective”.
Wasim Jaffer also posted a screenshot of the news of England cancelling SA tour due to COVID-19:
England were within their rights back then and so are India now. If anything India honoured their commitment and completed the Oval test despite entire coaching staff getting positive during the game. #ENGvsIND #perspective pic.twitter.com/F2LBQ8gDSA
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) September 10, 2021
The BCCI has stated that it shares a strong relationship with the ECB and both the boards will try to find a window for the rescheduling of the 5th test match. However at the same time, the BCCI also states that safety of the players is their highest priority and no compromise can be made in this regard.
