Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has slammed the critics for criticizing the Indian cricket team for opting out of playing in the fifth and final Test against England in Manchester after several members of the support staff tested positive for COVID-19.
Four members of Team India’s coaching staff was affected with Coronavirus and despite not having head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar, the tourists played the fourth Test and also won the game at The Oval.
But after their assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar tested positive for COVID-19, Indian players denied playing the final Test on Friday (September 10) against England despite their RT-PCR reports returning negative due to fear of catching the deadly virus.
After that, some cricket pundits and English media blamed India for the cancellation of the Test citing the resumption of IPL 2021, as they felt the game could have been rescheduled if they decided to stay in England, but as the tournament is set to resume next week, they headed to the UAE.
Chopra said on his YouTube channel, “You have to look slightly inwards. You came back from South Africa, there was no positive case in your contingent. Sri Lanka - you went back again. You went back to your home from other nations in a jiffy. So, why such sudden desensitization towards Covid?”
On the difference in opinions between BCCI and ECB, he said: “The Indian board believes it is a Covid-related cancellation, obviously, because the cases are growing one after the other. Even though our players have tested negative today and yesterday, they might come out positive in the coming days.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator further added, “England believes that the touring party had twenty players, all of them have come negative in two Tests, there is no case there, then why are you considering it a Covid cancellation.”
He concluded, “My take is that these are extraordinary circumstances. You have to and should consider it a Covid cancellation, for the simple reason that you might not have Covid now but it is found after three or four days, or your neighbor gets it, then you are not in the right frame of mind. It is not that Covid has not happened and you are thinking about ways to get out of the series.”
