JOIN USThe abnormal pollution levels of the capital threw cricket in disarray on Sunday. Besides making Sri Lankan cricketers unwell, it presented a unique case in front of the ICC whose rules do not cover a scenario of this kind.
Sri Lanka head coach Nic Pothas admitted they were concerned about the safety of their players and hoped the world body could set a precedent on it. The day's play was repeatedly interrupted after three Sri Lankan fielders vomited and at one stage reduced the Sri Lankan strength to 10 men.
Pothas revealed there were oxygen cylinders arranged in the dressing room and felt it was not fair for players to suffer like this.
"It is well documented that Delhi has high level of pollution. They had got extremely high at one point, we had players coming in at one point and vomiting. There were oxygen cylinders in the dressing room. It is not normal for players to suffer in that way while playing the game. From our point of view it has to be stated that it is a very very unique case," Pothas told reporters.
"I thought all the officials, the match referee and others handled the situation very well. When it is a new situation for everybody, it is not easy to make decisions.
"The captain wanted to speak to me about it, we had only ten people at one stage as there were not enough people to get on the field. The umpires were very clear where they were coming from. Their position was tough as well. There aren't too many rules written on pollution."
Pothas said three Sri Lankan playes vomited due to the conditions. "The bowlers obviously were struggling. Suranga (Lakmal) and Lahiru (Gamage). The match referee was in our change room when Suranga was vomiting. Doctors were in there as well. Dhananjaya de Silva was vomiting. It was tough. You rely on doctors to give you medical advice because you are not medical people," he said.
The incident has also raised question on Monday's third day's play. Pothas remarked: "Angelo Mathews batted beautifully. I haven't spoken to him still whether it was hard or easy to bat. When our guys were struggling the numbers were at 400 out of 500 in the scale. At the end of the day, now they are around 300. I presume it was easier, but I haven't spoken to anyone as to what we are going to do. That's in the hands of Match Referee and umpires and I am sure they will put in place some sort of precedence if that happens tomorrow again.
"It is an abnormal case. Match referee and umpires will file a report. We will leave it to ICC."
Incidentally, two Ranji Trophy matches -- one between Gujarat and Bengal and the other between Hyderabad and Railways -- had been called off last year on account of air pollution and only last month schools too were shut for a week for the same reason.
DH News Service