India did not respect the series or Test cricket by flouting Covid guidelines, says Paul Newman

Former English cricketer Paul Newman said that the Indian players were never too eager to play the fifth Test considering it would end so close to the start of the second half of the IPL.

English former cricketer Paul Newman did not hold back in his criticism of the Indian players for the alleged role they played in the fifth Test at Old Trafford getting called off. Newman said that the Indian players were eager to get the Test cancelled so as to not risk their participation in the second half of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). "There is no way this series decider would have been called off on the morning of the first day had the majority of India’s players not been flying to Dubai next Wednesday for the resumption of the richest tournament in cricket.