Sri Lanka cancels training session as Delhi invaded by toxic smog

Sri Lanka was forced to cancel their training session scheduled for last afternoon as a toxic grey smog submerged India’s capital city of 33 million inhabitants. Smoke from farmers burning the rubbles from their crops, emissions from vehicles and factories are causing heavy smog in the capital city every winter.

Team manager Mahinda Halangoda confirmed that the training was cancelled after assessing the prevailing situation.

“I visited the ground with a doctor and the advice was to train indoors due to smog,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are no indoor facilities here so the boys did gym work. I hope things will improve by tomorrow”.

“We are looking forward to playing the match on Monday,” he said.

Even though there’s no public health warning from the Indian government to protect them from the haze, the impact of the toxic air can be experienced the moment you get exposed to it.

AFP reported that the levels of the most dangerous PM2.5 particles -- so tiny they can enter the bloodstream -- were on Friday almost 35 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization, according to monitoring firm IQAir.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are scheduled to meet tomorrow, in their eighth World Cup game. The match is of great importance for both teams to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

“We are currently assessing the situation,” said an ICC spokesman when asked whether the prevailing situation could force a cancellation of the match.

“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.”

As other weather matters, the air quality is usually assessed and considered by match officials on the day of a game, using ICC guidelines.

On Friday, Bangladesh cancelled their training session due to the visible fog in the ground.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Thursday’s game against Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma batted for a clear environment for the future generations to live without any fear.

“In an ideal world, you don’t want a situation like this, but I’m pretty sure the concerned people are taking the necessary steps to avoid this kind of situation,” Sharma said when asked about the pollution in Delhi.

“It’s not ideal, everyone knows that. But obviously, looking at our future generation, your kids, my kids, obviously, it’s quite important that they get to live without any fear. So, every time I get to speak outside of cricket, I always talk about this, that you know we have to look after our future generation”.

Due to the prevailing situation Delhi government advised to close down all schools in the city.