India players refused to play fifth Test vs England, says Ganguly

Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly said their players refused to play the fifth and final Test against England due to COVID-19 concerns and denied that the upcoming IPL had played any part in the decision.

The Old Trafford Test was cancelled last Friday barely two hours before its scheduled start as India, who were leading the series 2-1, failed to field a side after their assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar tested positive for COVID-19.

"The players refused to play but you can't blame them," Ganguly told the Kolkata daily The Telegraph on Monday.

"Physio Yogesh Parmar was such a close contact of the players ... he mixed freely with the players and even performed their COVID-19 tests.

"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."

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has suggested that India's players were "petrified" of testing positive ahead of the IPL, which resumes on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates.

But England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Tom Harrison has said the cancellation had nothing to do with the IPL and Ganguly echoed those comments.

"The BCCI will never be an irresponsible board. We value other boards too," he said, adding that the match is likely to be held as a one-off Test match next year.