NEW DELHI: After Bangladesh cricket team, Sri Lanka too had to call off their initial training session in the national capital Delhi on Saturday due to "severe" air pollution.
Bangladesh, who had arrived earlier in the week, had already opted not to practice on Friday due to the city's air pollution reaching "severe plus" levels.
As the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded 407 in the morning, Sri Lanka also chose to remain indoors on Saturday. An official from the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) commented, "It was canceled due to the air quality issue," referring to the cancellation of Saturday's training session.
Despite the challenging conditions, Bangladesh is planning to go ahead with their training session on Saturday at 6 PM, just two days before their scheduled match on Monday.
The AQI scale categorizes air quality as follows: 0-50 is "good," 51-100 is "satisfactory," 101-200 is "moderate," 201-300 is "poor," 301-400 is "very poor," and 401-500 is "severe."
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is unlikely to move the game out of Delhi, but a decision on whether the match will proceed will be made on the day itself.
An ICC spokesperson stated, "We are currently assessing 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. We are taking expert advice to assess the situation."
Typically, match officials assess air quality on the day of a game. This is not the first time that Sri Lanka has had to cope with Delhi's notorious air pollution, as players previously had to wear masks during the Test series in 2017.
On Friday, Khaled Mahmud, Bangladesh's team director, revealed that many cricketers experienced coughing after venturing out in the city, prompting the management to cancel the first training session. The air quality had deteriorated to the "severe plus" category on that day.
(With agency inputs)
