If the now cancelled Manchester Test is rescheduled at a later date, Sourav Ganguly wishes it to be part of the five-match series against England and not a separate, standalone fixture.
Even though the scheduled fifth and final Test got called off last Friday – just a few hours before the start of Day 1 – it is not yet clear whether the game will count as a forfeiture on India’s part or stay as a “cancelled” affair.
But former BCCI chairman Ganguly confirmed that the Indian stance is in favour of the Test match getting rescheduled and specifically as part of the series in England.
“We want the series to be completed as this will be our first series win [in England] since 2007. The BCCI maintains that Test cricket is the ultimate format, and we won’t compromise it for anything,”
“We are ready to play extra ODI and T20Is and that’s not an issue. Just that the Test match that will be played later will be the fifth match of the series.”
the former India international Ganguly told PTI.
After it emerged that BCCI’s English counterpart – the England and Wales Cricket Board – has written a letter to the ICC seeking clarity on the game’s outcome, the ball is now in the governing body’s court to decide the result of the match.
The implication of the ICC decision will be just as much financial as it will be cricketing. If the match is deemed forfeited, England will not only draw the series 2-2, but the ECB will also be able to seek an insurance payout for the cancellation of the game.
However, they won’t be able to claim any recovery for their losses if the match stays cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak within the Indian camp. India will be awarded the series 2-1 in such a scenario since World Test Championship playing conditions accept the viral outbreak as a legitimate cause behind a team’s inability to field a team.
But the ECB could very well argue that the match was not exactly cancelled because of the viral spread within India’s playing group. None of the visiting players were tested positive ahead of the start of the Test, even as the team’s assistant physio Yogesh Parmar was proven affected by the virus on Thursday.
The BCCI has offered ECB the option of rescheduling the Test next year when India revisit the UK for a limited-overs series. But it is not yet known what the status of the match will be.
Ganguly is expected to put forward India’s desire for the game to be considered the fifth Test of the series with the ECB when he tours England later this month.
