The Sri Lankan cricket team cancelled their training session in Delhi on Saturday amid the rising air pollution in the national capital. Sri Lanka will be facing Bangladesh in their next match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on November 6.
Bangladesh had also cancelled their training session in the city on Friday over the rising AQI which is in the hazardous category at the moment.
Bangladesh are already out of the race to qualify for the semi-finals while Sri Lanka are also nearly out of contention.
They were supposed to have their first training session on Friday evening but the team management decided against it considering the high pollution levels.
"The ICC and our hosts the BCCI take the well-being of all participants seriously and are monitoring the air quality in Delhi. We are taking expert advice to assess the situation," the ICC stated.
The last of the five World Cup games allotted to Delhi is scheduled for November 6.
Sri Lanka, whose players had to wear masks to combat air pollution in Delhi back in 2017, had played their World Cup game against India in Mumbai on Thursday. The following day is usually the travel day and the team doesn't train.
Deteriorating air quality
Delhi's air quality plummeted to the "severe plus" category on Friday even as the central government deferred the implementation of stricter measures under the air pollution control plan.
This is the stage at which all emergency measures, including a ban on polluting trucks, commercial four-wheelers, and all types of construction, are mandated in Delhi-NCR.
The city's AQI on Friday was the worst since the previous high recorded on November 12, 2021. However, during a review meeting, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) decided to monitor the situation for a day or more before implementing stricter curbs. (With PTI inputs)
