How to watch England vs India: Fifth Test has been called off and will be rescheduled
The fifth Test match between England and India has been called off and will be rescheduled for a later date
The fifth and final Test match between England and India that was due to begin at Old Trafford in Manchester today (Friday, 10 September) has been called off because India were unable to field a team because of fears of a rising number of Covid cases inside the camp.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England Cricket Board (ECB) will work towards finding a window to reschedule the match.
It’s likely that this fifth Test won’t take place this year given the Indian Premier League resumes next weekend (19 September) in the UAE after the tournament had to be called off and rescheduled in early May following a rise of Covid cases within team contingents.
That tournament will be immediately followed by the T20 World Cup, which takes place in UAE and Oman from 17 October 2021. Following the T20 World Cup, England are scheduled to travel to Australia for the Ashes.
India currently leads the five-match Test series 2-1 after winning the last Test at The Oval by 157 runs.
The final day of the fourth Test between India and England was the perfect epitome of this series. When England came out to bat needing 291 with all their wickets in hand, all three results were possible with the series tied at 1-1. But once the openers were dismissed none of the English batsmen put up any resistance handing India a crucial series lead and making the fifth Test a must-win game for England to draw the series.
Just like the previous Test, which they won, England had India on the ropes at The Oval after winning the toss and putting them in to bat. Reeling at 127-7, lower-order batsman Shardul Thakur went for broke scoring a brisk 57 that proved crucial in India scoring 191 runs when they looked like they were going to be bowled out for less than 140 at one stage.
In reply, England scored 290 runs in the first innings courtesy of half-centuries from Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes, but it was India’s second innings total that rescued them from the clutches of defeat as Rohit Sharma scored yet another century this series and, combined with half-centuries by Thakur and Rishabh Pant, helped the team put up 466 runs, setting England a competitive total of 368 with about four sessions to play.
When the England openers survived 32 overs on day four, morales were raised as England could see the light at the end of the tunnel provided they could put up a similar resistance on the final day. Alas, that was not to be. Similar to what happened at Lord’s, England lost all 10 wickets on the final day.
After rain played spoilsport in the opening Test, India pulled off a resounding victory in the second Test, leaving the home team to question their line-up. England couldn’t have responded in a better way as they won the third Test by an innings and 76 runs to level the series.
The five-match Test series between England and India will be followed by the Indian Premier League that resumes in mid-September in the UAE. This year’s IPL had to be abruptly postponed in May because of the rising number of Covid cases in India and now has its venue changed because of the monsoon season in the country. The IPL will be immediately followed by the T20 World Cup that also takes place in the UAE and Oman from mid-October.
India’s tour of England 2021
England vs India Test series: Fixtures and Results
- First Test: Match drawn
- Second Test: India won by 151 runs
- Third Test: England won by an innings and 76 runs
- Fourth Test: India won by 157 runs
- Fifth Test: Rescheduled to a later date
England vs India Test series: Squads
England squad for the fifth Test: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dan Lawrence, Haseeb Hameed, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malad, Jack Leach
India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj, Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Hanuman Vihari, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Abhimanyu Easwaran
How to watch England vs India Test series in the UK: Sky Sports
UK channel Sky Sports is the only place to watch every ball of the upcoming five-Test series between England and India. The channel is also your best option to watch the Premier League and EFL games that both begin their 2021/22 seasons in August, the Indian Premier League that takes place after this Test series, and every race in the ongoing F1 season.
The service lets you access eight Sky Sports channels in HD, and you can also stream live games using the Sky Sports app on your mobile device. The channel costs £18/mth over and above your existing Sky package, but you can often find deals that club various Sky packages together for better value for money.
How to watch England vs India Test series in the UK: Now Sports Membership
Even though we highly recommend Sky Sports for sports fanatics, you must keep in mind that all Sky contracts usually tie you down for a minimum period of 18 months. If you’re looking for a more flexible option, then your best bet is to get a Now Sports Membership.
This gives you instant access to all 11 Sky Sports channels on any device and you can cancel your subscription at any time. The service costs £34/mth and you can register up to six devices on one account to stream content in 720p. To upgrade to Full HD, you’ll need to add Now Boost, which costs an additional £5 per month but lets you stream content on three devices simultaneously, with surround sound.
How to watch England vs India Test series in India: Sony Six
If you live in India, or the Indian subcontinent, the game will be broadcast on Sony Six and Sony Six HD, which also airs a range of other sports, including football, MMA and other regional franchise cricket tournaments around the world, including Big Bash League and Pakistan Super League. The channel is also broadcasting live coverage of the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where India will be hoping to add to their medal tally in the final weeks of the competition, following the success of silver medalist, Mirabai Chanu.
How to watch England vs India Test series in the US, Australia and Canada
There’s a huge diaspora of Indian residents and fans living abroad who will undoubtedly want to follow the Test series between two of the biggest sides in world cricket. If you live in the US or Canada, you can watch every ball of the Test series between England and India on WillowTV. Similarly, if you live in Australia, you can follow live coverage of all five Test matches on Channel 7.
How to watch England vs India Test series abroad: use a good VPN service
Now that people have started travelling again, you may very well find yourself outside your home country for some – or all – of the five-Test series that spans around six weeks. If that’s the case, then your best bet is to stream content via our local streaming service by using a VPN service. A good VPN basically encrypts all your browsing traffic so that no one – not your ISP or your mobile service provider – can see what you do when you go online.
We emphasize the word “good VPN” because even though there are tons of VPN services, not all of them offer the promised results at the price they state. Lower-priced VPNs have sneaky hidden features like ads or data-sharing, while others don’t unblock streaming services. Among all the VPNs we’ve reviewed, only two will let you stream content using any of the streaming services mentioned above.
READ NEXT: Best VPN service
ExpressVPN: Time and again over the last two years, ExpressVPN has been rated as our best VPN for streaming. Not only is it one of the most secure VPN services around, but you also get excellent features like 24/7 customer support and even a 30-day moneyback guarantee if the service doesn’t meet your expectations. It has a strict no-logs policy, which is backed up by an independent audit, making it one of the safest VPNs around.
NordVPN: Like ExpressVPN, NordVPN has received a flawless five-star rating in our recent review because it shares the same level of premium features without compromising on security. Its PC-based interface lets you choose which country you want to browse from and you can use the service on six devices at the same time, making it perfect for your family or a group of friends. It also has 24/7 customer support and a 30-day moneyback guarantee.