‘Indians shouldn’t forget that England came back after the attacks of 2008’ – Sunil Gavaskar on Manchester Test rescheduling

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that the BCCI should co-operate with the ECB to reschedule the fifth and final Test at the Old Trafford in Manchester. The game had to be postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 scares in the Indian camp. On Wednesday, India’s second physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive for the virus after which things went awry.

India’s practice session was shelved after which the Test match was cancelled. Speaking on the matter, Gavaskar put forth the example of England’s tour of India back in 2008 when the horrific Mumbai attacks took place. After the incident, the Brits, captained by Kevin Pietersen, left India on November 28 and the final two ODIs in Guwahati and Delhi had to be cancelled.

However, the Three Lions came back for the two-match Test series after one of the games was shifted from Mumbai to Chennai. Gavaskar mentioned Team India shouldn’t forget England’s gesture back then during the times of adversity.

Sunil Gavaskar goes down the memory lane

“We as Indians should never forget that the England team came back after the horrific attacks of 2008. They would have been perfectly entitled to say ‘we are not comfortable to come back’,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying on Sony Sports Network.

“So, we should never forget that Kevin Pietersen led the team and he was the main man. If KP had said ‘no I don’t want to go’ that would have been the end of the tour. It was because KP convinced the others that the team came and we had that fantastic Test match in Chennai where India chased down 380 on Day 5 to win,” he stated.

“That gesture of the ECB must be remembered,” Gavaskar, one of India’s greatest top-order batters, added.

Earlier, Ravi Shastri, the head coach of the Indian team, also tested positive for COVID-19. Two days before the fourth Test at the Kennington Oval in London, he, along with other members of the national team, attended the book launch.

As per reports, the BCCI wasn’t pleased with Shastri and the others going for the book launch. Going by sources, the COVID-19 protocols weren’t quite in place during the event, which was attended by around 150 people.