The fifth and final Test between India and England, which was scheduled to get underway on Friday (September 10) old Trafford, has been cancelled after COVID-19 cases in the visiting camp.
In a statement, ECB said “due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India are regrettably unable to field a team.”
See Also: BCCI offers ECB the rescheduling of canceled fifth Test match
Reacting to the development, former England captain Nasser Hussain has said that he completely understands Indian players’ reluctance to play this Test match.
"It's an evolving situation, it's a mess. And the only thing I can tell you is that this Test match... the final Test match is off. There won't be a Test match here at Old Trafford. This is the end of India's tour of England.
"I have a lot of sympathy with the Indian players as they've had two physios (test positive) and the second one would have been treating all the players with some sore bodies ahead of a fifth Test match. You cannot do physiotherapy without close contact. Even those players have tested negative a couple of times now, the incubation period means they are worried that two or three days into the Test match they test positive and three or four players go down," Hussain said on Sky Sports.
According to Nasser Hussain, the decision to call off the fifth Test also had to do with the second half of IPL 2021 resuming from September 19. He feels players would not want to risk their participation in the cash-rich event, which was rocked by COVID-19 earlier this year.
"Initially, the BCCI was always very concerned about this Test match. They wanted everything moved to make sure the IPL is a huge financial issue hanging over the game, over Indian cricket. They have already moved it, then moved it half of it this time around. Of course, this is about the IPL, but this is about players who are thinking: ‘If I get down positive here now, today, I have to do another 10 days’,” he said.
Moreover, Hussain praised the Indian players for taking a stand considering the impact bio-bubbles and quarantine have on them mentally.
"I have to applaud what the players showed. There will be a lot of anger and I get that but what is shows is how well the game has coped things like this. How well players have coped. These guys are going from bubble to bubble, and from quarantine to quarantine… look what’s happened to Ben Stokes. The tight bubble is no longer sustainable,” the former England captain remarked.
