An enthralling
Test series between England and India ended in an anticlimax with the fifth and
final Test at Old Trafford, Manchester being called off due to a COVID-19
outbreak in the visitors’ camp. There were reports that the Indian players were
unwilling to play the final Test with some rumours suggesting the upcoming resumption
of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season might have been a factor in the
match being called off.

However, former
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Sourav Ganguly has refuted
those rumours, saying that the players were skeptical of playing due to fears
of contracting COVID.

“No, no,
the BCCI will never be an irresponsible board. We value other boards too,”
Ganguly said when asked if the IPL played any part in the cancelled Test in an
interview with The Telegraph.

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He also
said that the Indian players were “dead scared” of contracting COVID once
physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive.

“The
players refused to play but you can’t blame them. Physio Yogesh Parmar was such
a close contact of the players. Being the only one available after Nitin Patel
isolated himself, he mixed freely with the players and even performed their
COVID-19 test,” the former India. Captain said.

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“He also
used to give them a massage, he was part of their everyday lives. The players
were devastated when they came to know that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
They feared they must have contracted the disease and were dead scared. It’s
not easy staying in a bubble. Of course, you have to respect their feelings.”

The fifth
Test was cancelled hours before toss was scheduled to take place on Friday, September
10. In a statement, ECB said “India are regrettably unable to field a team”.

There is no
confirmation yet about whether the match will played at a later date, or if
India will be declared series winners or if England will salvage a draw because
their opponents forfeited the match.