New Delhi [India]: Amid the worsening air quality in the national capital, the Sri Lanka team on Saturday cancelled their training session on Friday ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh on Monday.
According to ESPNCricinfo, following the advice of the team’s doctors amid the declining air quality in the capital, the Lankan Lions cancelled their practice session.
As the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in the Capital rose above 400, a spokesperson from ICC told ESPNCricinfo, “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.”
Further, as per ESPNCricinfo, on match day, officials will treat the air just like they treat other weather conditions to determine if it is fit to play the match or not.
According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)- India, the AQI is in “severe category” as of morning.
Bangladesh also has a practice session scheduled from 6 pm on Saturday. They had cancelled their nets session on Friday due to air pollution.
“Due to worsening conditions, we didn’t take the chance,” Bangladesh’s team director Khaled Mahmud had said.
“We have two more training days. Some of us developed coughing, so there’s a risk factor. We do not want to get sick. We do not know if things will improve, but we have training tomorrow. We want all the players to be fit for the important game coming up on November 6,” he added.
Earlier, faced with the rapidly deteriorating air quality in the national capital, primary schools were closed for two days.
Restrictions were also imposed on construction activities and vehicular traffic.
Earlier this week, ahead of India’s match against Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had expressed his concerns over the declining in air quality in Mumbai and the national capital, saying that it is important to make sure that future generations can “live without fear”.
Also, ahead of the match between India and Sri Lanka, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said there would be no firework displays in Delhi and Mumbai due to air pollution.
