India cricket test players battle on through thick New Delhi smog

INDIA - Test cricketers from Sri Lanka and India have resumed play yesterday despite soaring air pollution levels that left players vomiting and struggling to breathe. The second day of the international match was halted three times Sunday as a thick blanket of smog descended on Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Then, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was over 200, which is considered “very unhealthy.” On Monday morning it was around twice that, what’s considered “hazardous,” according to the AQI. New Delhi residents have endured dense smog for weeks now that’s prompted school closures, partial bans on private cars and a surge in patients at hospitals complaining of chest pain, breathlessness and burning eyes. After Sunday’s game in the five-day test, Sri Lankan coach Nic Pothas said some players had become physically ill. “The match referee was in our change room and the doctors, and Suranga (Lakmal), poor guy, was just continuously vomiting. Doctors were in there as well. Dhananjaya de Silva was vomiting. It was tough,” Pothas said, referring to two of the players. The third time play stopped was because Sri Lankan fast bowler Lakmal walked off the field.

“I mean fast bowling is a very high intensity activity, and you could clearly see that two guys were struggling to perform that activity,” Pothas said. The match referee was seen getting advice from the doctor, but nevertheless, the game went on, with the majority of the Sri Lankan players resorting to wearing antipollution face masks.

(CNN.COM)