Sri Lanka Cancel Practice Session in Delhi Due to Pollution as Uncertainly Continues over BAN vs SL Match

A day after Bangladesh cancelled their practice session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi owing to the alarming rise in pollution level and AQI (Air Quality Index) reading in and around the national capital region, CricketNext has reliably learnt that the Sri Lankan team have also followed suit and cancelled their training session two days ahead of their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka were supposed to train from 2 PM at the stadium but it has been called off, while Bangladesh’s session is supposed to be from 6 PM, but there is no confirmation yet on their stand. Outside the Arun Jaitely Stadium, MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) has out to work truck-mounted water sprinklers were put to work in a bid to control the pollution.

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

On Friday, CricketNext reported that the Sri Lanka team had objected to the playing conditions in Delhi after Bangladesh opted not to take the field.

“There was a virtual meeting attended by Sri Lanka officials for the team’s security arrangement in the capital where they raised the issue of pollution and objected to playing in the capital,” a source close to developments told this website.

The air quality across Delhi continues to be in the ‘severe’ category, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) stated on Saturday. Anand Vihar saw an AQI of 448, Jahangirpuri was at 421, Dwarka Sector-8 was at 435 and IGI Airport (T3) was at 421.

ICC World Cup: Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets

While there are rumours possibly moving to another venue, there has not been any confirmation on the same as of yet.

On cancelling the team’s practice session, scheduled from 6 pm to 9 pm yesterday, Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud said some players have already started coughing so they don’t want to take a chance ahead of the match.

“We were due for a training session today, but we didn’t take the risk due to the deteriorating conditions. We’ve got two more training days. Some players have started coughing, indicating a risk. We cannot compromise health as we have a crucial game on November 6,” Mahmud had said.