Reports | Eyes are hurting and visibility is at an all-time low in Delhi, states DDCA official
The situation has gone from bad to worse as a spell of rain on Saturday evening in Delhi has caused the visibility to drop ahead of the scheduled T20I. While the call, if to start the match, entirely depends upon the match referee, stand-in skipper Rohit stated, earlier, that it was no big issue.
It seems like the T20 match scheduled at the Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi is in serious jeopardy. A light spell of rain on Saturday evening has made the situation worse as the smog has gone from bad to worse in the capital city.Â
The match which is scheduled today (November 3) is now at the mercy of nature as the ground staff and the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) are praying for the smog to settle. The spell of rain has lead the visibility to drop which is now another issue which has crept up beside the concern of players' health.
"Contrary to the belief that showers on Saturday would have helped settle things down, today is the worst of the lot. The eyes are hurting and visibility is at an all-time low. Hopefully, the sun does come out and the smog settles else it will be very difficult to get the match going. We are helpless in such a scenario and can only pray that the match happens," A senior DDCA official told IANS, reported India Today.
The official also went on to inform that the match referee will be the one taking the final call on the fate of the fixture after consulting the umpires and maybe with the ground staff too. Further, the official hoped that things will place in place but agreed that the situation is grim as of now.
"The call has to be taken by the match referee and he will consult the umpires. They can also check with the groundstaff to decide on the fate of the match if the condition stays the way it is. But then again, you never know with the weather and things could change in the evening. But if you go by the current scenario, things are a little grim, to be honest," he said.
The Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) declared a public health emergency in Delhi-NCR due to severe air pollution, on Friday. Following the declaration, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly checked with the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma if the players were fine the conditions and the skipper answered in the affirmative, the source informed.
"The President checked with Rohit and the team is comfortable and there is no problem they had after a full-on training session on Friday. In fact, there is an optional training even on the eve of the game. The skipper has given the thumbs up to the BCCI chief," the source said.
Earlier on Thursday, Rohit made it clear that there are no issues whatsoever with the air and the team is good to go.
"I have just landed and haven't had time to assess. As far as I know, the game is to be played on 3rd and will be played. We didn't have any problems when we played the Test match here (against Sri Lanka). We are not aware of the exact discussion and I haven't had any problem," Rohit said.
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