Didn’t receive any request from BCCI on tweaking Test series: ECB

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has quashed all rumours about receiving any request from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding tweaking of the Test series to accommodate the remainder of the Indian Premier League in the September window. 

"We talk to the BCCI on a regular basis about a wide range of issues especially as we address the challenges of Covid-19, but have had no official request to change dates and are continuing to plan for the five-match Test series as is scheduled," an ECB spokesperson was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying. 

This clarification was issued late evening on May 20, while the rumours of BCCI’s request were started by the British media earlier in the day. 

Earlier in the day, a BCCI official told The New Indian Express that both boards were exploring options at the moment and given the extraordinary times the Indian counterpart was hopeful that the ECB will make some adjustments. The report further claimed that the BCCI are ready to compensate for the curtailed series by playing additional limited-overs matches in July.

The Test series, a five-match affair is scheduled to begin with the first game in Nottingham on August 4 and would go on till September 14, if the fifth Test in Old Trafford, beginning September 10, runs its full course of time. 

The IPL was suspended earlier this month on May 4 after a huge rise in Covid -19 cases in the bio-bubble. The BCCI and IPL governing council later informed that the tournament has been postponed and the remainder of it would be completed outside India.

Discover more
Top Stories
news

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's father passes away due to liver ailments

India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s father Kiran Pal Singh passed away on Thursday at his Meerut residence. The right-arm bowler’s father was suffering from liver cancer. Kiran Pal Singh was detected in September 2020. He had undergone treatment, including chemotherapy, at the All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi. He was a retired sub-inspector in the Uttar Pradesh Police department and is survived by his wife, Indresh Devi, and children - Bhuvneshwar and Rekha. Bhuvneshwar was omitted from India’s Test squad for England tour where the team will face New Zealand in the WTC final in Southampton next month. The WTC title clash will be followed by a five-match series against England. The right-arm bowler was out of the Indian team due to injury concerns after he last represented the country in the longer format in January 2018 against South Africa. The 31-year-old had a decent run during the England series at home. Earlier, in the day India represent Abhinav Mukund’s grandfather succumbed to Covid-19. Mukund took to social media and tweeted, “With great sadness, I would like to inform you all that I have lost my grandfather, Mr TK Subbarao, to CoVid19. He was 95. A man known for his discipline and his exemplary routines,was otherwise hale and healthy till the virus took him away. Om Shanti!”. Abhinav made his Test debut for India in 2011 and was capped 7 times scoring 320 runs during the course. He has played 145 First-Class matches and has notched up over 10000 runs for Tamil Nadu.