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The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is just around the corner. The memories of India’s tour of England are fading as Indian players have left the UK for UAE to participate in IPL. Meanwhile, ECB has asked ICC to start the adjudication process on the canceled test match, and Englishmen are not allowing others to move on from the matter.
Former English cricketer turned Commentator now, David Gower claimed that Indian players “hightailed” out of England. Gower told a source that the Indian skipper had “E-mailed BCCI at midnight.” In his view, the game was all set to start, but there were some private matters between the BCCI and Indian players.
“The worrying thing for me is this: If the IPL was so very closely linked to this, then that to me is very disappointing because… I mean sounds old, crusty, but for all those people like Virat and me… the last time he was in England, he made a big point about how important Test match cricket is to him… So, for all of us who like Test cricket and value it as the best part of the game, to see a Test abandoned like this was tragic,” Gower added.
“Over the next days and week, more things would emerge. One or two things we haven’t heard so far might come out to the public ears. But it does seem by the way that the Indian players have high-tailed out of town so quickly, already in the UAE preparing for the IPL. Maybe you can argue that it is sensible given the circumstances. It gives them the best chance to be part of it. But maybe that suggests that the IPL and cancellation were linked. There were some private things said between the Indian team and Indian board.”
There are a lot of theories and analyses on development. Many cricketers and experts have analyzed the situation according to their view of the matter. The most popular conspiracy theory is that IPL was why Indians lost their interest in the final test of the series.
It should not be forgotten that India has been in the Corona bubble for a long time, and it still has IPL and T20 World Cup 2021 to play, and players will spend their lives in the drop in these two months as well. David Gower analyses the situation according to his own perspective and believes that it was not the covid-19 situation or the anxiety of the Indian players; instead, IPL was the reason.
“Wow! No one, least of all I, saw that coming. It leads us into unprecedented territories. I mean, I know other matches have been abandoned… sometimes a few balls bowled and various other circumstances, but to have the thing called off at the last moment – Virat Kohli e-mailed the BCCI at midnight the day before – the whole sequence of events needs explaining a little bit better,” Gower told Cricket.com.
“I was up there on the first morning on my way to watch Day 1 to enjoy some cricket, talk to people about the game to talk about the hospitality. But by the time I got there, of course, the situation had somewhat changed.
Over the following days and weeks, more things would emerge. One or two things we haven’t heard so far might come out to the public ears. But it does seem by the way that the Indian players have high-tailed out of town so quickly, already in the UAE preparing for the IPL. Maybe you can argue that it is sensible given the circumstances. It gives them the best chance to be part of it. But perhaps that suggests that the IPL and cancellation were linked. There were some private things said between the Indian team and Indian board.”
Also Read: Was it right to call off the final test of the India and England series?
