India vs England | Postponed fifth Test to be played from July 1, 2022
India are leading the 5 Test series 2-1
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The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday confirmed that the postponed Manchester Test between India and England will be played at Edgbaston from July 1, 2022. The board added that the Test match will not be played at Old Trafford because of complexities in the schedule.
Notably, India are set to travel to the UK next year during the same time for six white-ball games.
The fifth Test match in Mancester was postponed minutes before its start due to outbreak of Covid-19 cases in Team India camp. Head coach Ravi Shastri was among the support staff who had tested positive for the virus. On the eve of the match assistant physio Yogest Parmar had also tested positive, causing unrest in then visitors' camp who were reluctant to take the field later. India were leading the 5-Test series 2-1 after four matches.
"The match, which was due to take place last month at Emirates Old Trafford, was called off when India were unable to field a team due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID-19 cases inside the camp.
"With India leading the series 2-1, the concluding fifth match will now take place from July 1, 2022, at Edgbaston, following an agreement between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)," ECB said in its statement.
"Due to the complexities in the schedule, the fixture cannot be staged at Emirates Old Trafford owing to clashes with pre-planned events at the venue, which will leave insufficient time to prepare a Test pitch. Instead, Emirates Old Trafford will now host the second LV= Insurance Test against South Africa next summer, starting on August 25, 2022. This match was previously due to take place at Edgbaston.
"Given the rescheduling of the fifth Test, the Vitality IT20 Series and Royal London Series between England and India will now start six days later than originally planned. The IT20 series will begin on 7 July at Ageas Bowl with Edgbaston and Trent Bridge hosting the 2nd and 3rd games of the series respectively on 9 and 10 July.
"The Royal London One Day Series starts on 12 July at the Kia Oval. Lord’s will host the 2nd game of the series on 14 July and the series will wrap up at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday 17 July," it added.
