5th Test between India and England: The final Test match of an intriguing Test series has been cancelled due to COVID-related concerns.
Advertisement
Considering how well both England and India had played in the first four Tests to entertain one and all, the cancellation of the fifth match would’ve been the last thing for all the stakeholders.
It is indeed a shame that a riveting Test series couldn’t be completed with its future remaining uncertain for now. However, circumstances due to tight scheduling were such that both the boards couldn’t find a solution within 24 hours.
Had it not been for the second phase of the 14th season of the Indian Premier League, the Manchester Test could have been postponed by a few days to ensure everyone’s optimum health by conducting more RT-PCR tests. Having said that, a mere four-day between the Day 5 of this Test and the first match of IPL 2021 made it impossible to reschedule the match.
Will 5th Test between India and England be rescheduled during India’s tour of England 2022?
With IPL 2021 and ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to be played in almost no time between each other, the Test match can’t be played this year. By the time the World Cup will end, ECB (England Cricket Board) won’t be in a position to host a home Test.
If ECB and BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) are to accommodate this Test in the near future, a viable option remains in the form of the summer of 2022 where India are already scheduled to tour England for three T20Is and as many ODIs.
While ECB have already announced their international schedule for the whole summer, some tinkering will need to be done to fit in a Test match. Unlike ECB, an official word from the BCCI has hinted at the two boards wanting to reschedule the match at some point in time in the future.
“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 said in a statement published on their website.
In the absence of official details with respect to the future, it will be wise to wait for the same than fall for speculations doing the rounds in the media.
