Players from Bangladesh Practice Wearing Masks After Sri Lanka Cancels Session Owing to Increasing Delhi Air Pollution

In the midst of extreme air pollution, Delhi, which is preparing to play its last ODI World Cup 2023 match, welcomed Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Due to the precarious state of affairs, the Lankans called off their training session the next day, and the Bangla Tigers did the same on Friday.

The players of Sri Lanka chose not to leave their team hotel and called off the training session, which was supposed to take place on Saturday afternoon from 2 PM to 5 PM at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi. The cancellation was attributed to the increasing levels of air pollution.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, exercised at the location on Saturday but wore masks, unlike Friday. With their faces hidden, the players and coaches had a brief workout hitting the nets.

Not a hint of changing locations

The “early warning system” of the government indicates that until Monday, the air pollution levels will stay at “severe” levels. Considering that, there are currently no indications that the game will leave the city. The ultimate decision over whether to play the game on Monday or cancel it rests with the ICC and match officials.

Schedule of training for Sunday, November 5

The sides will resume training on Sunday, one day before the match, according to the ICC. Sri Lanka will train from 6 PM to 9 PM, while Bangladesh will train from 2 PM to 5 PM.

Delhi’s AQI is a serious worry.

Due to a comparatively improved wind speed, pollution levels in Delhi and the surrounding regions decreased somewhat over night, although the concentration of harmful PM2.5 was still more than 80 times the World Health Organization’s recommended safe threshold (WHO).

The 24-hour average AQI on Friday was the lowest since November 12, 2021, when it reached its previous level of 471. The AQI only very slightly improved from Friday morning’s reading of 470, still falling into the severe category.

Over the last week, Delhi-NCR’s air quality has become worse because to a steady decrease in temperature, calm breezes that trap pollutants, and an increase in the burning of post-harvest paddy straw across Punjab and Haryana. According to a research released in August by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), air pollution in Delhi is causing people to live shorter lives by almost 12 years.