Delhi test: India vs Sri Lanka or Sri Lanka vs smog?

Sun raha hai na tu, ro raha hun main (can you hear it? I’m crying). The song Sri Lankan cricketers may have been humming before delivering every ball at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

Their captain, Dinesh Chandimal, along with most of his teammates, are yet to uncover their faces as the pollution in Delhi is taking toll on him and his team. Suranga Lakmal, their prime fast bowler, has been on and off the field as he has constantly been vomiting.

On Sunday (day two), in fact, a scenario emerged where the Sri Lankan captain and the coach had to request the umpire to let a support staff field as at least six of their players, they complained, had ‘fallen sick’ because of the pollution in India’s capital. Disallowed, the team fielded with 10 players instead of 11.

It was widely perceived that the Sri Lankans were doing so just to waste time. Virender Sehwag, former India opener, in the commentary box took the charge of bashing the Sri Lankans “for deliberately wasting time”.

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain who had scored a double ton and was still batting, looked evidently furious because consistent complaints by the Sri Lankans were delaying the proceedings. At the same time, however, limited overs Vice Captain, Rohit Sharma was seen wearing a mask. R Ashwin and an Indian support staff too were wearing masks to keep safe.

Were Sri Lankans deliberately wasting time? India outplayed Sri Lanka in their own backyard in August this year when they clean swept the three match test series 3-0 and whitewashed them in the five match ODI series too. Late November, Sri Lanka traveled to India. In Kolkata, Sri Lanka drew the test match before returning to the losing ways in Nagpur. Not once during these five tests and five one-day matches, either of the teams complained about anything, not even dissatisfaction with an umpiring decision. But when the Sri Lankan team traveled to Delhi, they started complaining. Was it because they wanted to avoid a loss by delaying proceedings? But they had accepted the loss graciously in their own backyard just a few months ago!

What does the statistics of pollution level say? Sri Lankan captain first complained of deteriorating health of his players on day two of the test match. On Monday, PTI reported, the concentration of the most dominant pollutants, PM2.5 and PM10, reached levels as high as 276 and 455 micrograms per cubic metre by 3 pm, according to the Central Control Room for Air Quality Management of the CPCB. Pollution is considered ‘severe plus’ or ‘emergency’ when these readings are above 300 and 500 respectively. The corresponding prescribed standards are 60 and 100. Sunday’s 24-hour average was 351.

In fact, “Delhi is a wake-up call for the world on air pollution” read a UNICEF statement last November. This November, schools were shut for a few days in the capital because pollution level had increased beyond ‘harmless’ level. Why did the BCCI still give a go ahead to Delhi test? Were they expecting 11 Delhiites to play for Sri Lanka because Sri Lankans surely will not be acclimatised to Delhi’s smog?

There are two governments from two different parties in power in the capital. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the BJP resides at 7-Race Course road, Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister has his house on Bhagwan Das road in Central Delhi. What did these leaders do to safeguard the residents and the visitors like the Sri Lankan cricket team?

Except for fighting with the National Green Tribunal over the odd-even scheme, not much has been done by the Delhi CM. On the other hand, the Prime Minister or the Pradhan Sewak in his own terms, who lives on “one of Delhi’s greenest address” according to a report published by The Hindu in 2014, has been silent on the issue.

In fact, last month a Congress MP, Deepender Singh Hooda had penned a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to head a panel of chief ministers to tackle the smog hazard in northern India. But Hooda’s office confirmed National Herald, he is yet to get a reply from Narendra Modi, who has been busy campaigning in Gujarat for the upcoming elections.