BCCI president Sourav Ganguly says he is unsure whether the fifth Test at Old Trafford will take place as the junior physio of the Indian team, Yogesh Parmar, has tested positive for COVID-19 .
The Test is scheduled to begin on Friday.
After head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun, another member of the support staff testing positive, forcing the team to cancel its practice session on Thursday.
"We don't know if the match will happen at the moment. Hopefully, we can get some game," said Ganguly at a book launch in Kolkata.
The RT-PCR test reports of the players are still awaited.
Parmar's positive test result leaves the team without a physio as the main physio, Nitin Patel, is already in isolation after Shastri contracted the coronavirus during the fourth Test at the Oval. It is learnt that the BCCI has asked England and Wales Cricket Board to spare a physio.
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"The results of the RT-PCR tests (of players) are expected later in the day depending on which the fate of the game will be decided," said a BCCI source.
The players have been told to remain in their respective rooms as RT-PCR testing is being carried out. Besides Shastri and Patel, fielding coach R. Sridhar and Arun are also isolating in London. Only batting coach Vikram Rathour was with the team when it won the fourth Test at the Oval on Day Five.
All the players and the support staff are fully vaccinated but neither team is operating in strict bio-bubbles, with life in the U.K. almost back to normal.
Shastri is likely to have got the symptoms after attending the launch of his book in the team hotel where outside guests were also allowed. Arun, Patel, and Sridhar attended that function in person.
India leads the five-match series 2-1.
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