Covid cloud over Manchester Test as India eye historic win

There is an unmissable buzz around Manchester, a little more than what may be considered normal for the city this time of year. There's a disruptive spurt in sales of red-coloured shirts bearing the number 7. Murals in Salford and in and around the Greater Manchester area have been re-done amid the frenzied fervour of Cristiano Ronaldo's reunion with the Theatre of Dreams. Many million eyes, it is said, will be on Old Trafford this weekend.

There are dreams harboured this week across the street at the other Old Trafford, where Virat Kohli & Co. hold a 2-1 series lead and stand on the cusp of a historic Anglo-Australian double. But a day out from the final showdown, India have been pegged back by the pandemic again, as assistant physio