England vs India 5th Test forfeited or to be played later? BCCI issues statement after ECB

Shortly after the England Cricket Board (ECB) released an official statement to cancel the fifth England vs India test match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also issued a similar statement. The last Test match was cancelled with immediate effect due to COVID cases in the Indian camp. Team India's junior physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive ahead of the Test match, thereby resulting in Thursday's practice session being called off with players asked to stay inside their hotel rooms.

England vs India: Manchester Test cancelled, BCCI confirms news

The England vs India 5th Test match stands cancelled and this news was confirmed by BCCI via an official statement from Jay Shah, who is the Honorary Secretary. The statement read,

"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. 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."

BCCI VP Rajeev Shukla says there is no question of forfeiting

In a statement given to ANI, BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla said that there is no question of forfeiting the fifth England vs India test match. Shukla said,

"There is no question of forfeiting the match, it has been only called off. After wide consultations between BCCI President, BCCI Secretary, Treasurer, me and Joint Secretary, along with ECB Chairman and CEO and in consultations with players, captain, senior players it was decided to call off this Test match which was slated in Manchester."

ECB confirmed the cancellation of 5th England vs India Test earlier

Similarly, the ECB also had put out a statement earlier to confirm the news.

"Following ongoing conversations with the BCCI, the ECB can confirm that the fifth LV= Insurance Test between England and India Men due to start today at Emirates Old Trafford, will be cancelled. Due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India are regrettably unable to field a team", the official statement from the ECB read."