Bangladesh team is scheduled to play their eighth match in the World Cup next Monday against Sri Lanka in Delhi. Shakib-Mushfiqur reached Delhi last Wednesday with that match in mind. They were supposed to practice today, but the Bangladesh team was forced to cancel the practice. The reason? High levels of air pollution in Delhi. Bangladesh Team Director Khaled Mahmud Sujan gave this information to Cricinfo.
The Bangladesh team was scheduled to practice in three sessions ahead of the match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the first of which was from 6 pm to 9 pm today. But as per ‘Air Quality Index’, which measures the level of air pollution, if the index exceeds 400 in some parts of Delhi, ‘Air Emergency’ has been declared in Delhi since last night. Schools in Delhi were closed for two days due to the state of emergency, restrictions on construction and vehicular movement.
However, due to this situation, whether the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match will be postponed or not, there has been no discussion between the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) and the ICC, according to Cricinfo.
Whether the match will be held on the fixed date or postponed – that decision will come later. For now, the Bangladesh team has decided not to practice considering the situation. “We had a practice session today, but we didn’t take any chances as the air pollution level was getting worse,” Khaled Mahmood told Cricinfo. We have two more days of practice. A few of us have already developed a cough, which means there is a risk. We don’t want anyone to get sick. I don’t know if the situation will improve, but we have practice tomorrow.’
Bangladesh team practice tomorrow also at the same time, Sunday practice will start from 2 pm. Air pollution levels usually increase after evening.
The day before India’s match against Sri Lanka, that is, last Wednesday, Indian captain Rohit Sharma also expressed concern over the extreme levels of air pollution in some Indian cities including Delhi-Mumbai. Despite the provision of fireworks in several matches of the World Cup, BCCI has also announced that they will not allow fireworks to be lit in any match after seeing the air pollution situation.
What is Air Quality Index (AQI)?
Indicators for measuring air pollution levels. It is usually measured on a scale of 0 to 500. The lower the number, the lower the level of air pollution.
Here, the index from 0 to 50 is considered to be the green zone, that is, the level of air pollution is very low and there is no risk here.
Yellow from 51 to 100 – Air pollution levels up to this level are acceptable. This level means that this level of air pollution may pose a risk to a small number of people who are sensitive to air pollution.
101 to 100 Orange – This stage is considered dangerous for sensitive people. For others, there is less danger of health loss at this stage.
151 to 200 – red. Many can be exposed to health risks, even more so for sensitive people.
201 to 300 – Purple. Health hazard warning. Health risks are considered to be elevated for all.
301 or more – Maroon. Extremely risky. Health emergencies.
Incidentally, at the time of writing this report, according to IQAir website, Dhaka’s AQI is 172.
