Sourav Ganguly Wants India-England Series to be Completed and Not Have a One-Off

Ganguly’s wish on India-England Series…get the details

Tuesday, 14th September 2021

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has clarified on Monday that he wants the replacement match of the recently cancelled Test to be a continuation of the five-match Test series between England and India instead of just a one-off mat ch.

The Manchester Test has now been cancelled as Team India captain Virat Kohli refused to field his players in the wake of a surge in the number of Covid-19 infections among the support staff of the team. The tournament decider having thus been put off for a later date after India was leading it 2 – 1, has left the fate of the series hanging in the balance.

Sourav Ganguly said, “We want the series to be completed as this will be our first series win [in England] since 2007,” and added “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.”

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On this matter, The England and Wales Cricket Board has sought a resolution by the Dispute Resolution Committee and has written to the ICC. The ICC is yet to come back with a verdict or comment on the fate of the cancelled match that was to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Ganguly also said that the board is “disappointed” because of the cancelled match but it could not go beyond a point to convince a team of worried players.

He explained, “We are extremely disappointed that this series had to be called off. The only reason is Covid-19 outbreak and players’ safety. We could only push them to a point. But the pandemic is so severe that one can only go that much distance.”

When asked whether they were considering fielding a fresh set of payers by resting some of the senior team members, Ganguly negated the possibility. He said, “No that wasn’t an option. If you see the Yogesh Parmar (the junior physio who tested positive just before the match) was a close contact of every player.”

ECB CEO Tom Harrison said on the matter that while they made all possible provisions to ensure the comfort of the visiting team, the “perception of what might happen” has made them take a back step.

The New Talkie Bureau

Source-

Indiatoday