New Delhi: Air pollution in Delhi spiked again on Sunday forcing many to stay indoors. But at old Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla ground, smog became a major health concern for visiting Sri Lankan players.
On Day 2 of the third and final Test match, Lankan players entered the field wearing masks and requested frequent stoppages while India were plundering runs.
Virat Kohli, who became the first ever captain to hit six Test double hundreds on Sunday, however, seemed perturbed by the complaining Lankan players and declared the Indian innings rather 'prematurely' at 536/7d after 127.5 overs.
Watch the declaration here, courtesy BCCI:
Innings break! India declare their innings on 536/7.
Updates - https://t.co/OKFOpkiBg9 #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/jRzygy50g4
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 3, 2017
The play was halted of couple times, and even between overs, Lankan players took breaks, thus frustrating Kohli.
Smog? Pollution? What's happening? https://t.co/LWfYCEUaQ7 #BCCI
— Cricket-atti (@cricketatti) December 3, 2017
It's worth noting that Kohli posted a video on Twitter on Delhi pollution.
#Delhi, we need to talk! #MujheFarakPadtaHai pic.twitter.com/Q5mkBkRRIy
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 15, 2017
He said: "Hi guys! We all know what the situation of pollution is like in Delhi, I wanted to bring your attention towards it because a lot of people are debating as to what’s causing it. But what are we actually doing about it? Agar hume yeh match jeetna hai pollution ke against, hum sab ko saath mein mil ke khelna hoga. Kyunki hum sabki zimmedaari hai pollution ko kam karna. Specially jo log Delhi mein rehte hain, un sabki yeh responsibility hai."
"If we have to win this match against the pollution, we all have to come forward and fight against it. It is our responsibility to reduce the pollution levels. Especially the people from Delhi, it's their responsibility."
Also read: Records broken by Virat Kohli in Delhi
Smog is a very common phenomenon in Delhi as farmers in the adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana burn crops during the end of October and November.
However, smog, over the years, has been prevalent during the first two weeks of November. The BCCI has never been forced to shift the venue of a Test match as the air quality improves during the month of December.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India seemed miffed with visitors.
“If 20,000 people in the stands did not have problem and the Indian team did not face any issue, I wonder why Sri Lankan team made a big fuss. I will need to talk to the secretary and ask him to write to the Sri Lanka cricket,” news agency PTI quoted BCCI acting president CK Khanna as saying.
For the record, two Ranji matches were called off last year due to acute smog and smoke.
