No forfeiture, BCCI urges ECB to reschedule final Test

New Delhi: After fifth and final test between India and England scheduled at Old Trafford in Manchester was cancelled due to the Indian players' reluctance to play it following emergence of a fresh Covid-19 positive case, the Indian cricket board has asked the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to reschedule the fifth and final Test of the ongoing series.

In a statement,Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that it has offered to ECB a rescheduling of the cancelled Test match in lieu of the strong relationship between the two boards

"Both the Boards will work towards finding a window to reschedule this Test match," said the statement.

"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," the BCCI added further in the statement.

"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," it said further.

"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," it added.

Meanwhile, former England captain Nasser Hussain reacted that while the situation on the cancellation of the fifth Test between England and India is evolving, it is a mess. He said that there has been no clarification on the result of the match.

"There's not one here scheduled for next year for the moment. This Test match is not happening. There is still a debate about who has forfeited and the actual result of the game, that hasn't been clarified yet."

"The ECB will work that out with India and the ICC in due course. So, there's been no forfeiture. It is just an evolving situation where this Test match has been cancelled and that will be the end of the Indian tour of England," said Hussain while speaking to Sky Sports from Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

On Thursday, team assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar had tested positive a few days after head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar had tested positive.

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 ICC using percentage points system based on points won in matches played, a cancelled match is of no value to any team