A day after the Bangladesh cricket team cancelled their training session in Delhi, Sri Lanka on Saturday also did the same due to dangerous air pollution in the national capital.
The Sri Lanka management took the decision to skip the practice session, scheduled on Saturday afternoon, based on the advice from team doctors.
Delhi residents continued to grapple with deteriorating air quality as a layer of haze engulfed the city for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday.
The pollution levels in the national capital dipped marginally from 475 yesterday to 470 on Saturday. However, the concentration of PM was 2.5, which is 8 times more than the healthy limit prescribed by the World Health Organization.
This severe pollution has prompted a ban on non-essential construction work, the closure of primary schools and restrictions on diesel, petrol vehicles operating in and around Delhi.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are scheduled to play their ODI World Cup 2023 match at Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in Delhi on Monday and ICC as well BCCI are monitoring the situation.
“The ICC and our hosts the BCCI take the well-being of all participants seriously and are monitoring the air quality in Delhi,” they said. “We are taking expert advice to assess the situation,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.
It has been also learnt that the match officials will treat the air pollution just as they would the weather, in deciding whether conditions are fit for play or not on Monday.
As per Indian government agency’s Air Quality Tracking Warning system, the AQI was likely to be in the severe category on Saturday and remain so until Tuesday, November 7.
Notably, many players in Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad have already experienced playing cricket in polluted Delhi air, when they took part in a Test match at this venue in late 2017.
Back then, several players had come off the field to vomit in the dressing room, while others received on-field medical attention for respiratory problems. At least five Sri Lanka fielders had also come out to the field wearing masks.
Earlier this week, India skipper Rohit Sharma had also reacted over the worsening air quality in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country, saying it is important to ensure that future generations can live “without any fear” in India.
The BCCI had also said that it would not allow any fireworks displays for the remaining games in Mumbai and Delhi because of the poor air-quality in these two cities.
