England write to ICC against India, want outcome of fifth Test

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has officially written to the ICC to decide the outcome of the fifth Test as the two boards have failed to reach a settlement. The final Test in Manchester was called off after a COVID-19 break in the Indian camp. The senior Indian players were not ready to take the field. “Yes we have written to the ICC,” an ECB spokesperson told PTI.

India were leading the series 2-1 after the fourth Test match. The ECB wants the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee to decide the fate of the match and expect that a forfeiture would be granted so that it can claim insurance as they are on the verge of losing 40 million pounds if the match is declared abandoned due to virus.

The Indian players were not ready to play despite returning two negative RT-PCR results.

Virat Kohli was worried about more positive cases as most players were treated by physio Yogesh Parmar, who is in isolation after contracting the virus.

If the ICC rules the Test as abandoned, then India will win the series 2-1 but if the result is forfeiture as per the DRC ruling, it will be a 2-2 verdict and the hosts can claim insurance.