Reports: ECB turned down Virat Kohli’s request for a delayed start of the Manchester Test

Team India’s skipper Virat Kohli, as per reports in DNA, had requested the England and Wales Cricket Board to delay the Manchester Test by a couple of days in the wake of the COVID-19 hassles. However, the ECB turned down the captain’s request and took the call of postponing the game at the Old Trafford for an indefinite period of time.

On Wednesday, India’s second physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive for COVID-19 and the development made a few Indian players complacent about taking part in the fifth Test. Kohli was reported to have conveyed that infections could show up despite negative test results before the match, which was scheduled to start on September 10.

Kohli also communicated that with head coach Ravi Shastri and a few other staff members down with COVID-19, India would have been devoid of key strategists for the Manchester Test. For the fifth Test, only batting coach Vikram Rathour was with the Indian team.

The BCCI office bearers, thereafter, spoke to the ECB officials for postponing the game by a couple of days. But the ECB didn’t agree to their request. The decision to postpone the game indefinitely was taken around two hours before the start of the encounter.

ECB and Lancashire set to endure massive losses

If the Manchester Test eventually doesn’t take place, the ECB and Lancashire Cricket are set to suffer losses worth millions. To compensate for the same, the BCCI offered to play either a Test or two limited-overs matches in the 2022 season.

It was also reported that the Indian cricketers refused to play to take part in the second leg of the 2021 Indian Premier League, which is set to get underway on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates. The BCCI had to pull the plug on the tournament back in May due to COVID-19.

As far as the Manchester Test was concerned, the ECB, on Friday, September 10, dropped a statement to make the announcement. The two boards will be working to eke out a window for the Test match.

“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.

“In lieu (sic) 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,” the statement read.