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Former England captain Michael Vaughan has accused the Indian cricket team of letting English cricket down after the final Test match at Manchester, scheduled to get underway on Friday, was cancelled hours before the toss. It is being reported that India were unable to field a team for the Test match due to COVID-19 fears in the camp after several members of the support staff have already contracted the infection.
While all the cricketers had returned negative results for the infection and the match was set to be on course as per the last update on the eve of the match, there were all sorts of confusion on match-day before the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that the Manchester Test was called off. Following the cancellation of fifth Test, Vaughan made this accusation in a tweet, which also added that even the English team were guilty of letting down South African cricket last year.
England had cancelled the South Africa series
Notably, while England had toured South Africa for a series late last year, they had to cancel the fixtures after reported breaches of the team's bio-secure environment in Cape Town. The news came as a huge financial blow to the already COVID-affected Cricket South Africa. It even cast doubt over their ability to host future tours with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia set to visit there. However, they somehow found a way around it but not without their share of struggle.
Will players have to miss IPL 2021 matches?
The final Test getting called off could have similar implications for the England and Wales Cricket Board. However, it is being learned that they have offered the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) an option to play the remaining Test match when they come back to play a limited-overs series in the country.
However, there is no official confirmation on that. Another former England captain Kevin Pietersen wonders that if the teams are now required to undergo quarantine for 10 days, will that mean no players from either teams will get to participate in the first few matches of IPL 2021. Notably, the second phase of IPL 2021 is set to commence on September 19.