Players were devastated when they came to know Parmar had tested positive for Covid-19: Sourav Ganguly
Sep 13, 2021
New Delhi [India], September 13 : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has revealed Indian players were "dead scared" when they came to know that physio Yogesh Parmar had contracted COVID-19 ahead of the fifth Test against England.
The fifth Test match between England and India was cancelled in Manchester on Friday. The BCCI and ECB held several rounds of discussion to find a way to play the Test match, however, the outbreak of COVID-19 in the Indian team contingent forced the decision of calling off the game.
"The players refused to play but you can't blame them. Physio Yogesh Parmar was such a close contact of the players. Being the only one available after Nitin Patel isolated himself, he mixed freely with the players and even performed their Covid-19 tests," Ganguly said in an interaction with the Kolkata-based Telegraph as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
"He also used to give them a massage, he was part of their everyday lives. The players were devastated when they came to know that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
"They feared they must have contracted the disease and were dead scared. It's not easy staying in a bubble. Of course, you have to respect their feelings," he added.
The BCCI has offered to ECB a rescheduling of the cancelled fifth Test match which was scheduled to be played at Manchester from Friday.
The BCCI President said the rescheduled game will be a one-off Test when India and England next lock horns in a bilateral series.
"The Old Trafford Test has been cancelled. They (ECB) have incurred a lot of losses and it's not going to be easy on [them]," said Ganguly.
"Let things settle down a bit, then we can discuss and decide. Whenever it's held next year, it should be a one-off match since it cannot be a continuation of the series anymore," he added.
