Vijay Merchant Trophy: U-16 Players 'Left With No Choice' But To Play Amid Severe Air Quality

The U-16 players of team Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, taking part in the Vijay Merchant Trophy, have been left with no choice but to play in heavily-polluted nation's capital

With the Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) on Friday declaring a public health emergency in Delhi-NCR due to severe air pollution, Delhi is all set to host the 1st T20I of the upcoming 3-match series between India and Bangladesh. The U-16 players of team Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, taking part in the Vijay Merchant Trophy, have been left with no choice but to play in heavily-polluted nation's capital. It is clear that the BCCI is not very much affected as far as dealing with growing concerns regarding having matches in extremely polluted cities like Delhi is concerned. The AQI in Delhi has dropped down to 'Emergency' and 'Severe plus' category, however,  BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Thursday confirmed that the 1st T20I match between India and Bangladesh on November 3 in Delhi will go ahead as planned. The newly appointed BCCI chief, however, said that the Board would be "more practical" while scheduling matches in the Northern part of India in the winters. Amid the air quality hovering in the “severe” category in Delhi NCR post Diwali, Bangladeshi players practiced while wearing masks, ahead of the 1st T20I. After BJP MLA Gautam Gambhir opining to shift IND vs BAN 1^st T20I match to another venue, veteran offie Ravichandran Ashwin has highlighted how scary is the emergency-like situation in the national capital. “The quality of air in Delhi is really scary, the oxygen we breathe is the basic requisite for mankind on this planet. This indeed is emergency,” he tweeted on Saturday morning.

The quality of air in Delhi is really scary, the oxygen we breathe is the basic requisite for mankind on this planet. This indeed is emergency. #AirQualityIndex #pollution

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) November 2, 2019