Despite the concerns about the well-being of the players, BCCI decided to go ahead with the Delhi T20I against Bangladesh.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital had crossed the 600 mark yesterday and the region was in a state of virtual “emergency”. But, the game took place and Bangladesh eventually won it by 7 wickets.
After the conclusion of the game, the BCB revealed that they had actually raised their concerns to the BCCI, but BCCI clearly told them that it was “too late” to shift the game.
According to the BCB president Nazmul Hasan, the board initially wasn’t aware of the air pollution level in Delhi, but when they got to know, they immediately came into action and asked BCCI to change the venue. However, BCCI denied the last-minute change.
After watching the pictures of smog on the internet, BCB was in constant touch with the coach Russell Domingo and the captain Mahmudullah and asked them to explain the gravity of the problem, but they ensured the board that they would able to handle the situation.
Nazmul, however, took a flight to Delhi himself because he wanted to see the situation first hand. The BCB president said he was shocked just as he reached the Delhi airport on the morning of the game. He felt it was not the ideal condition to play cricket at all because the visibility was too low.
”I could not believe my eyes, I saw smog inside the airport. It was not dew, it was smog. In the morning when I came out, the condition was even worse. From that point, I was saying how can we play? We are not seeing anything and that is the reality.” Nazmul was quoted saying by Cricbuzz.
“From the very beginning, they [BCCI] were saying that they cannot change it. They said that we were too late to inform them about our concerns. I was disappointed about it,” Nazmul added.
