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Xtra Time Web Desk: England cricketers were left frustrated after the Old Trafford test was cancelled on Friday. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) jointly decided to call off the test match. The test match could be rescheduled as a one-off Test next summer when India return for six white-ball internationals but fitting in another game to a crowded schedule appears difficult.

The Indian cricketers led by their captain Virat Kohli were concerned to take the field following team’s second physio Yogesh Parmar being tested positive for COVID-19 two days ahead of the test match. Although all the Indian cricketers returned negative from the RT-PCR tests which were carried out on Thursday, did not feel comfortable taking the field owing to the fact that the symptoms shows after three or four days. Most of the cricketers were in close contacts with Parmar.

The British Media lashed out at the Indian support staff for their lackadaisical approach towards COVID-19 rules. India’s head coach Ravi Shastri along with three other support staff members were the first to test positive and just a couple of hours before the decider.

As per a report in The Sun few members of India’s squad were spotted out and about in Manchester on Thursday, when they were meant to be at their hotel. The report also said among the five England test players (Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan and Chris Woakes) one player is considering pulling out of the IPL 2021 second leg which starts in UAE from September 19.

It was also reported that the fifth test match would surely have been played but for the Indian Premier League resuming in the UAE.  Despite that, ECB CEO Tom Harrison insisted it had nothing to do with the IPL or Covid — and that it was in fact a mental-health issue for players trapped in bubbles for months.