Explained: How air pollution has impacted Cricket World Cup?

The air quality in India’s national capital, Delhi, is once again in the news for being “hazardous”. As per the data compiled by the Swiss group IQAir category, Delhi’s AQI (air quality index) stood at 640 on Friday which put it at the top of the world’s most polluted cities. The worsening air pollution in India has started to have an impact on the ongoing 2023 Cricket World Cup.

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Bangladesh cricket team which is in Delhi for their match against Sri Lanka scheduled for Monday cancelled their training on Friday to keep their players fit for the 6 November match. Sri Lanka also cancelled their training on Saturday, as per ESPNCricinfo.

“We actually had a training session today, but due to worsening conditions, we didn’t take the chance,” team director Khaled Mahmud said on Friday. “We have two more training days. Some of us developed coughing, so there’s a risk factor. We don’t want 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.”

It has also been reported that Sri Lanka even raised the issue about the poor air quality in Delhi but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and ICC (International Cricket Council) are currently in no mood to shift the game to another city.

Same issue at Mumbai

Delhi is not the only Indian city grappling with the issue of air pollution. The AQI in Mumbai has ranged between 150 (moderate) and 411 (severe) in the last 15-20 days. The maximum city hosted the India game against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Before the India game, captain Rohit Sharma also touched upon the subject and added that we need to look out for “our future generations”.

“Looking at our future generations, your kids, my kid. Obviously, it is important that they get to live without any fear. Every time I get to speak outside of cricket, or not discussing cricket, I always talk about this. We have to look after our future generations. In an ideal world, you do not want a situation like this but I am pretty sure that the concerned people are taking the necessary steps to avoid this kind of situation,” Rohit said ahead of the Sri Lanka game.

It has to be noted that the situation is so bad that BCCI has put a ban on the display of fireworks during the remaining World Cup matches in Delhi and Mumbai due to the poor air quality in the two cities. The Bangladesh-Sri Lanka game is the only match left for Delhi, while Mumbai will be hosting two more.

England players use inhalers

The British media has reported that England players are using inhalers, usually used by Ashtma patients, to tackle the air pollution issues in India. As per ‘I’, England players have been “sporadically” using inhalers during training sessions.

Star all-rounder Ben Stokes was seen using an inhaler in Bengaluru.

As per the Indian government, an AQI of 0-50 is in the “good” category while anything between 400 and 500 is “severe”.