Sri Lanka need a commanding win if they are to sneak into the knockout stages 
(Photo credits: ICC)

By Champika Fernando in Delhi

The severe air pollution in Delhi has cast a cloud of uncertainty around the ICC Men’s World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, two teams who are fighting to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

The top seven teams on the points table with Pakistan will qualify for the eight-team tournament. Sri Lanka, with two wins, is currently placed at 7th place while Bangladesh sits in the ninth place with only one win.

Smoke from farmers burning their crop remains, emissions from vehicles and factories cause heavy smog in the capital city every year. And both teams were forced to cancel at least one of their training sessions. Bangladesh, which shelved their Friday session, trained with masks under lights on Saturday evening but Sri Lanka opted to remain indoors on medical advice.
Some members of the Bangladesh cricketers hit the nets yesterday despite the toxic air engulfing the surroundings. Sri Lanka attended their first training session in Delhi the same evening although air quality has dropped further.

According to reports the Air Quality Index (AQI) consistently exceeded the 400 mark on a scale of 500 since Thursday, and is expected to remain in the “severe” category until Tuesday. As of Sunday afternoon, the AQI stood at 454 in central Delhi.

Sri Lanka Team Manager Mahinda Halangoda yesterday said that ICC has confirmed to them that the match will go ahead as scheduled at the venue.
“When we came here, we heard that Bangladesh had cancelled their training session and, also, we saw how bad the air quality was. So, we inquired from the ICC about the plan and they informed us that the match is on,” said the team manager, responding to a question at the post-match press conference.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said they are currently assessing the situation as they take the wellbeing of all participants seriously.
“The ICC and our hosts the BCCI take the wellbeing of all participants seriously and are monitoring the air quality in Delhi. We are taking expert advice to assess the situation,” it said on Saturday.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe expressed his concerns about the situation but said they have no choice.
“Air quality is affecting both teams,” said Hathurusinghe. “And it’s not ideal, but we have no choice. We have to play in the condition in front of us.”
In a similar situation back in 2017, Sri Lanka wore masks while playing India in the Test series. Certain players had experienced respiratory issues on the field, with some even vomiting.
Although the door has been shut on Bangladesh to qualify for the semi-finals, mathematically Sri Lanka still has a chance of qualifying by winning the next two games and if Afghanistan, Pakistan and New Zealand lose their remaining matches.

“Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have played really good matches in the recent past. The thing is, both teams in a really similar situation, to be honest, and are trying to finish as high as possible because we have lost the opportunity to get into the semi-final now,” Hathurusinghe said of tomorrow’s clash.
Although Sri Lanka have a 42-9 win-loss record in 53 ODIs between the two countries, they take the field after a dreadful outing against India on Thursday where they were bowled out for 55 runs as India raced to a 302-run win.

“As the captain, I am very disappointed with how we played the previous game against India,” said Kusal Mendis. “We cannot always dwell on the past because we still have two more games to play. It’s not easy to completely forget that below-par performance against India but we’ve identified our mistakes and we hope to bounce back. Our aim is to win the last two games and finish the campaign on a high.”

Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign has seen misfortunes so far although there were some exceptional individual performances from a few players. Among them, left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka stands out with 18 wickets in seven games, followed by batters Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrema.

“It’s nice to see someone like new, young, come and do well on the stage like this World Cup,” commented Hathurusinghe of young Madushanka. “I was not surprised because he was a quality bowler. He swings the ball early and got a decent pace. We have discussed about him and we take note of his performance.”
Sri Lanka kicked off their World Cup campaign at the same venue but suffered a 102-run defeat in a high scoring game against South Africa. Responding to South Africa’s record 428 runs for the loss of 5 wicket, Sri Lanka scored 326.

“ I don’t think the pitches here change a lot because there are plenty of pitches at one venue. If the pitch stays true just like how it played against South Africa, everyone including myself could play our natural game. If not, we’ll have to adjust to the conditions accordingly,” Mendis said.