IND vs SL 2017: Smog issue needs to be taken into consideration, says Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly felt it’s better to schedule a match in the capital either before Diwali or after New Year.

Sri Lankan players were seen wearing anti-pollution mask during the second day's play at Kotla | AP

The ongoing third Test match between India and Sri Lanka at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi has been hit hard by the smog. All the Lankan players were spotted wearing an anti-pollution mask during the post-lunch session on Day 2. In fact, at one point in time, the game was halted for nearly half an hour as the visiting cricketers cited uneasiness due to poor air quality caused by smog.

In the second innings, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews sported the masks as well while the fourth day of the match saw two pacers Suranga Lakmal and Mohammed Shami coughing up on the field.

Putting his viewpoint concerning the entire saga, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has said that there are issues to be addressed when winter comes and Delhi gets a game.

“It seems it’s getting tough. I saw Mohammed Shami also struggling a bit when he bowled late in the evening today, struggling to run in like Lakmal, he struggled. Like we saw last year Bengal and Gujarat game (Ranji Trophy) was called off because of smog in Delhi, not a single ball was bowled in all four days,” Ganguly said while speaking to India Today.

“Definitely, there are issues, how much it is you really don’t know because we are far from it, how much the players feeling it but it is so difficult to see masks on a cricket field,” he added.

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The ‘Prince of Kolkata’ also stressed on better scheduling and opined that it’s better to schedule a match in the capital either before Diwali or after New Year.

“I don’t know how they breathe, how they keep running and how they play cricket because you have to breathe properly and I don’t know whether, with those masks, you can do it. This needs to be taken into consideration at some stage when winter comes and Delhi gets a game,” Ganguly commented.

May be give Delhi a game before Diwali or after New Year or may be in the month of February and March when everything settles down. This needs to be genuinely looked at and I hope they all finish the game healthy,” he concluded.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 06 Dec, 2017

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