IND vs BAN | Fresh soil added to Delhi surface to elevate square above outfield
In order to tackle the issue of slow and low outfield, fresh soil has been added to elevate the square above the outfield at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. However, the match referee is concerned about the visibility factor in New Delhi and asked BCCI to give him an hourly update on it.
In the last Indian Premier League, Arun Jaitley Stadium, then named as Feroz Shah Kotla, dished out few batting-friendly wickets but the outfield was pretty slow for a T20 match. Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant played some good innings, but the slow surfaces led commentators Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan to criticise the slowness of the wicket.
In order to tackle the issue of the slow and low outfield, fresh soil has been added to elevate the square above the outfield. Former chief of BCCI's grounds and pitches committee Daljit Singh told TOI that an elevated surface helps to derive better bounce out of it. Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) curator Ankit Datta has readied the centre pitch for the match on Sunday.
The Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority has declared a public health emergency across the National Capital Region (NCR) with pollution levels entering the "emergency" category for the first time since January. Overall air pollution levels remain "severe", with the Air Quality Index (AQI) measuring 407. In order to manage the visibility factor, the match referee is concerned about the visibility inside the stadium.
"The visibility dipped in the evening even with the lights on. The structure of the stadium is such that the smog or fog settles in with little ventilation. The match referee has asked the BCCI and the local groundsmen to have a person to monitor the visibility and give an hourly update on Saturday evening," a source told TOI.