World Cup 2023: Sri Lanka cancels training due to 'severe' air pollution in Delhi

The Sri Lanka team have cancelled their opening training session in Delhi on Saturday due to 'severe' air pollution. On Friday, Bangladesh cancelled their training session as the pollution levels in Delhi hit the "severe plus" category.

New Delhi: Sri Lanka was forced to cancel their opening training session in Delhi on Saturday due to "severe" air pollution. Earlier, Bangladesh had cancelled their training session on Friday as the pollution levels in the city hit the "severe plus" category.

Sri Lanka stayed indoors on Saturday when the Air Quality Index stood at 407 in the morning. "It was cancelled owing to the air quality issue," a Sri Lanka Cricket source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The source was referring to Saturday's training session.

However, Bangladesh are likely to make a brave decision of practising two days before the game on Monday. They are scheduled to train on Saturday from 6 PM.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". It is unlikely that the International Cricket Council (ICC) will shift the game out of Delhi but the call on whether the match will go ahead will only be taken on that day.

"We are currently assessing the situation. 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," an ICC spokesperson was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The air quality is usually assessed by match officials on the day of a game.

Sri Lanka had dealt with Delhi's notorious air pollution before as well. The players had to wear masks during the bilateral Test series against India back in 2017. On Friday, Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud said the players developed a cough after going out in the city and therefore the management decided to cancel the first training session.

On Friday, the air quality descended rapidly to the "severe plus" category. "Many (cricketers) went out yesterday (Thursday) and now they are having some kind of coughing so there is a risk factor involved and so we cancelled the training so that they don't get unwell," said Mahmud at the team hotel.