World Cup: After Bangladesh cancel their training session, Sri Lanka too stay indoors amidst rising pollution levels in New Delhi

The two teams are set to play each other in their penultimate preliminary stage match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.

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While both teams are yet to hit the nets in the Indian capital, there has been no indication so far that the match will be moved out of the city. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and match officials, then, will need to take a call on whether the match can go ahead or must be abandoned on Monday.

For the second consecutive day, Delhi’s air pollution was declared as ‘severe’ on Friday, with the 24-hour average AQI (Air Quality Index) hitting a high of 475 at 11 am, and staying above 450 till at least 5 pm. Government and primary schools in the city have been declared shut for two days, and restrictions have also been put in place for the pausing of all construction and developmental activities.

Forecasts, as per an ‘early warning system’ of the Union Government, predict that the air pollution will remain at ‘severe’ levels up until Monday.

At 9 am on Saturday, the AQI remained in the severe category and was marked at an average of 407, a marginal improvement from Friday, but not deemed good enough for even a light outdoor training session by Sri Lanka.

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These conditions are not new for the national capital’s cricket-watching population, or for the Sri Lankan team, after two bizarre stoppages in a Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla between India and Sri Lanka back in 2017, when several players were declared unfit to be out in the field, with a few reportedly vomiting in the dressing room.

Previous problems would lead the two teams to err on the side of caution, as explained by Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud after abandoning Friday’s session.

“We actually had a training session today, but due to worsening conditions, we didn’t take the chance,” Mahmud was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.com. “We have two more training days. Some of us developed coughing, so there’s a risk factor. We don’t wan t 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.”