Finally, the most-awaited India vs Bangladesh T20I is all set to go live!
Amid concerns on the severity of air pollution in the city, there was a lot of uncertainty over the match schedule.
Clarifying everything, the BCCI president Saurav Ganguly confirmed that the match will happen as per the schedule in New Delhi on November 03, 2019 at 7 PM (IST) .
Considering the pollution scenario, the Bangladesh team is expected to hold a training session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on November 01, 2019.
On the other side, Delhi locals are voicing their opinions on air pollution and the scheduled match.
Former cricketer and current MP Gautam Gambhir said, “It (pollution) is a far serious issue than having a game of cricket or any other sports matches in Delhi. I think people living in Delhi should be more concerned about the pollution levels rather than the cricket match that happens. Not only athletes, but it’s also for the common man of Delhi as well. A match is a very small thing, I think we can say whether we want to shift the match or not.”
“On the 3rd of November India is scheduled to play against Bangladesh in a T20 match at Feroz Shah Kotla at a time when pollution levels are expected to be between severe to hazardous,” said activists from ‘Care For Air’ and ‘My Right To Breathe’ in an open letter.
“In the light of extreme pollution in Delhi, we would like to request you to consider shifting the venue for the first T20 outside of Delhi,” they noted.
They expressed concerns that playing in such a polluted environment will hamper the players’ health in the long run.
“We would also like to request you to consider setting up of responsible sports protocols which take into consideration the AQI of venues and cities while scheduling cricket matches to be it domestic or international,” they urged.
If everything goes well as planned, you can ‘Watch Live’ the India vs Bangladesh first T20 International of the series here!
