India vs England 5th Test: Forfeited, cancelled or rescheduled?

It is learnt that led by skipper Virat Kohli, who had the biggest apprehension of playing the game, the players, late on Thursday, got into a huddle and couldn't be convinced by the BCCI brass to play the game.

The fifth Test between India and England was cancelled on Friday (September 10) amid a chaotic turn of events during which the host board's statement on the visitors changed from ‘unable to field a team and will instead forfeit the match’ to ‘regrettably unable to field a team’. The development came after the visiting team was left on tenterhooks following physio Yogesh Parmar's positive COVID-19 test that led to concerns that the infection could spread during the match which was cancelled a couple of hours before toss. It is learnt that led by skipper Virat Kohli, who had the biggest apprehension of playing the game, the players, late on Thursday, got into a huddle and couldn't be convinced by the BCCI brass to play the game. The initial statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board categorically mentioned the word ‘forfeit’ but that was later omitted from a revised media release. “Due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID cases inside the camp, India are regrettably unable to field a team,” read the revised England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement. A COVID-19-related quarantine would have meant missing out on IPL matches, starting September 19.