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Can understand why Indian players were anxious: Broad on India not playing fifth Test

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England fast bowler Stuart Broad has come in support of the Indian team; the players had refused to play the fifth and final Test in Manchester. The Indian team’s coaching staff including the head coach Ravi Shastri had tested positive for Covid-19 while physio Yogesh Parmar was the latest addition to the list of backroom staff to test positive for the virus. 

"We have seen the pressures of being away from home for a long period of time most recently with India returning zero positive Covid tests within their group but still feeling anxious enough to not play a Test match. I get that,” Broad wrote in a column in Daily Mail. 

"I am certainly not going to preach that what they did was wrong because I remember how I felt for the last Test match in Ahmedabad (when England toured India), having been locked away for 10 weeks in hotel rooms,” the right-arm bowler who had been earlier ruled out of the series added. 

India were leading the five-match Test series 2-1 before the final Test was abandoned. There is still no clarity on the result of the series. The BCCI had offered them to play two extra T20Is in England when the Indian team will be on tour next year. 

"It is correct that we have offered to play two extra T20Is when we visit England next July (only for the white-ball games). Instead of three T20Is, we will play five T20Is,” Jay Shah told Cricbuzz. 

The first match of the series ended in a draw while India clinched victories at Lord’s and at The Kennington Oval.  

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