Delhi Air Pollution: Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Call Off Their Training Session Before Their World Cup Match 2023

Delhi Air Pollution:The Sri Lankan men’s cricket team decided not to train on Saturday, Nov. 4, in Delhi ahead of their World Cup encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium versus Bangladesh. Based on medical advice, this decision was made because, according to a Reuters article, practicing outside was considered unhealthy because of the extreme pollution that is currently consuming the nation’s capital.

On Monday, November 6, Sri Lanka is scheduled to play subcontinent rivals Bangladesh; nevertheless, Delhi’s pollution could be a major hurdle to the game. For the last four days, the capital’s air quality index (AQI) has been continuously above 400, and this condition is predicted to last until the following Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan cricket team called off their practice session one day after the Bangladesh cricket team did the same.

“We didn’t take the chance because the situation was getting worse. Two more training days are left. Coughing emerged in a few of us, indicating a risk factor. Director of the Bangladeshi squad Khaled Mahmud was quoted in an ESPNCricinfo report as saying, “We don’t want to get sick.”

Notably, the Bangladeshi squad was supposed to have another practice session on Saturday at 6 p.m., but it doesn’t seem probable that it would happen because of the pollution levels.

“Tomorrow is training, but we don’t know if it will help. We want every player to be ready for the crucial match on November 6,” Mahmud continued.

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Reports state that officials will handle air pollution on match day in the same manner as any other weather scenario. This implies that if the weather is judged unsuitable for play and endangers the players’ health, play may be cancelled.

The final ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match in Delhi will be between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka before the competition moves on to the knockout stage. Sri Lanka is still in danger of losing the tournament, despite Bangladesh having already been eliminated, particularly following their crushing loss to the Indian team earlier in the week.

Sri Lanka chased a goal of 358 runs but were bowled out for just 55 runs. Hence, in the unlikely event that the game is called off, neither team’s prospects of winning the World Cup will be greatly impacted. Nonetheless, both teams would want the game to go forward because there is a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy up for grabs.