The fifth and final T20I match between India and England at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, was scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM IST. However, the toss was delayed as the Indian team was stuck in traffic jams while traveling to the venue.

Due to a traffic snarl, the toss could not happen at the scheduled time, although the skies were clear and the weather was perfect for playing the game. At around 6:35 PM IST, the television channels covering the match showed the Indian cricket team bus reaching the venue.

Match Officials Push Back Toss After India’s Late Arrival

According to ESPN Cricinfo, it took almost an hour for one of its correspondents to cover a distance of less than four miles from Southampton Airport Parkway station to the stadium due to traffic, which shows how congested the place around the venue was.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was surprised to see the traffic conditions during the live broadcast.
“I’ve never seen this before. This is where the Mumbai Police takes the cake. They would have done something rather than waiting for something to happen,” he said.

Graeme Swann, the former England spinner, also apologized to the viewers for the inconvenience caused.
“I would like to apologize on behalf of the Southampton Police,” he joked.
Swann further reasoned that England did not face the traffic snarl-up as the team was staying at a hotel inside the stadium compound, allowing the hosts to reach well before the visitors.

Due to the late arrival of the Indian team, the umpires decided to postpone the toss so that the players could warm up.

As a result, the toss was scheduled for 7:15 pm IST, while the game was set to begin at 7:30 pm IST.

The chaos caused by the traffic reminded everyone of the ODI match between England and the West Indies, which was played at The Oval earlier this year.
During that game, Harry Brook and several other England players had to cycle to the venue after their team’s car got stuck in the traffic jams of London.

The travel hiccup had added another twist to the stalemate script in Southampton as England coasted to an unassailable 3-0 lead in the T20I series after their emphatic win in the fourth match at Durham, which had turned out to be a damp squib.

With the T20I series decider at Southampton on Thursday, a win for England would see them register a clean sweep in the T20I series, moving up to the number one position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s T20 rankings for the first time since April 2020.

Meanwhile, India will be aiming to finish on a positive note under the leadership of skipper Shreyas Iyer as they prepare for the three-match ODI series against England starting in Birmingham from July 14.

As the T20I squad prepared to face the hosts at Southampton, ODI captain Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav and Gurnoor Brar were seen practicing at Edgbaston for the 50-over matches.