Worsening Air Quality In Delhi A Cause Of Worry As Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Face Off In WC Tie On Monday

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are down in the trenches of the World Cup table. As both sides are fighting to keep themselves alive for qualification to the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, an air of tension persistently lingers around them.

And the only thing that’s keeping them from reliving themselves of it, is ironically the air around them.

The upcoming Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka World Cup match in Delhi is under threat due to rising pollution levels and an alarming Air Quality Index (AQI) reading.

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Delhi has been rated as the most polluted city in the world, with consistently high AQI levels of around 483, according to data by Swiss Group IQAir.

An atmosphere of not World Cup joy but smog has engulfed the city for the most part and Bangladesh had to proactively take steps to fight it, as the team cancelled their training session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday.

READ: Pollution Threat Looms Over Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka World Cup Clash in Delhi

“Due to worsening conditions, we didn’t take the chance,” Bangladesh’s team director Khaled Mahmud had said after the cancellation of Friday’s session. “We have two more training days. Some of us developed coughing, so there’s a risk factor. We don’t want to get sick. We don’t 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.”

It has also been reported that Sri Lanka have also expressed concerns regarding the same.

An air emergency was declared in Delhi on Thursday, as the air quality index (AQI) rose above 400 in several places in the city, forcing the government to close schools for two days and impose restrictions on construction and vehicle traffic.

ICC said it was monitoring Delhi’s air quality and took seriously “the wellbeing of all participants” ahead of Monday’s match.

“We are taking expert advice to assess the situation,” their statement said.

“The ICC and our hosts the BCCI take the wellbeing of all participants seriously and are monitoring the air quality in Delhi…We are taking expert advice to assess the situation,” said ICC, according to reports from Reuters.

In order to combat the already toxic haze that has engulfed Delhi,  the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already banned the use of fireworks in post-match celebrations in New Delhi and also Mumbai whose air quality has seen a massive drop.

In fact, Indian skipper and Mumbai native Rohit Sharma himself spoke about the dreadful air quality.

“It is not ideal and everyone knows that,” Rohit said on Wednesday worried about its impact, especially on children.

“Obviously it is important that they get to live without any fear,” Rohit said.

“Every time I get to speak outside of cricket, or not discussing cricket, I always talk about this. We have to look after our future generations.”

The next couple of days will be crucial to determining whether conditions in Delhi improve, making it suitable for hosting the World Cup fixture in the capital.