Following ongoing conversations with the BCCI, the ECB can confirm that the fifth LV= Insurance Test between England and India Men due to start today at Emirates Old Trafford, will be cancelled.
Due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India are regrettably unable to field a team.
We send our sincere apologies to fans and partners for this news, which we know will cause immense disappointment and inconvenience to many.
Further information to follow
On Thursday, it was revealed that India’s physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar was diagnosed with a positive COVID-19 result in a lateral flow test. However, all members of the squad later tested negative for the virus.
Parmar is the fourth person in the camp besides head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach B. Arun and fielding coach R. Sridhar having been diagnosed positive during the fourth Test at The Oval in London last week. The team had also lost its senior physio, Nitin Patel, who was deemed as a close contact and was forced into quarantine.
While the Indian team had its reservations of moving ahead with the Test, it was later agreed upon by both national boards on Thursday that the Test will go ahead per schedule on Friday.