'They high-tailed out of town so quickly' - David Gower connects Manchester Test cancellation with IPL resumption

The cancellation of the fifth and final Test between England and India in Manchester has created plenty of buzz, with the cricketing world being divided in their opinions regarding the real reason behind the cancellation.

The final Test had to be cancelled due to the fears of Covid-19 in the Indian camp, where first Indian head coach Ravi Shastri tested positive, followed by the team’s bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar. However, it was the positive test result of assistant physio Yogesh Parmar on the eve of the Manchester Test that ended up as the final blow to the chances of the encounter being carried forward, as the players’ apprehension regarding the worsening situation increased.

Eventually, in a joint-decision, both BCCI and ECB decided to cancel the Test, with its fate still being uncertain. Many speculate that the BCCI and Indian players did not show keenness to continue given the UAE leg of IPL, which is set to resume from September 19 in UAE, for which the concerned players had to fly on September 15 as per the earlier schedule, but the cancellation of the final Test has eased out things on the travel front.

“Wow! No one, least of all I, saw that coming. It leads us into unprecedented territories. I mean I know other matches have been abandoned… sometimes a few balls bowled and various other circumstances but to have the thing called off at the last moment – Virat Kohli e-mailed the BCCI at midnight the day before – the whole sequence of events needs explaining a little bit better,” Gower told Cricket.com

“I was up there on the first morning on my way to watch Day 1 to enjoy some cricket, talk to people about the game to talk about the hospitality. But by the time I got there, of course, the situation had rather changed.”

To see a Test abandoned like this was tragic: David Gower

Gower feels that given Virat Kohli’s commitment towards Test cricket, if these speculations are true, it would be “very disappointing”.

“The worrying thing for me is this: If the IPL was so very closely linked to this, then that to me is very disappointing because… I mean sound old, crusty, but for all those people like me and dare I say, Virat… the last time he was in England, he made a big point about how important Test match cricket is to him… So, for all of us who like Test cricket and value it as the best part of the game, to see a Test abandoned like this was tragic,” Gower added.

“Over the next days and week, more things would emerge. One or two things we haven’t heard so far might come out to the public ears. But it does seem by the way that the Indian players have high-tailed out of town so quickly, already in the UAE preparing for the IPL. Maybe you can argue that it is sensible given the circumstances. It gives them the best chance to be part of it. But maybe that suggests that the IPL and cancellation were linked. There were some private things said between the Indian team and Indian board.”

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