The 2nd day of the 3rd and the final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi was affected by poor quality air as the Sri Lankan players, in particular, found it very difficult to cope with the high pollution level in New Delhi. The Sri Lankan players were seen wearing masks since the post-match season as the polluted air played spoilsport. It is not often that you see a match getting halted due to air pollution, but it was the just the case in New Delhi.
In the recent past, Delhi has been severely criticised for having a high pollution level and hence the Sri Lankan players took the protection. Some of the visiting players were not covering their mouths and noses as the mask was seen hanging on their necks. Among the Indian players, it was Rohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav who wore masks. The match was held up for as many as 16 minutes with India placed at 519/5 and Kohli batting on 140. The players were seen having an animated chat with the umpires.
The chat continued as the Sri Lankan players found it seems difficult to cope with the conditions. While Dinesh Chandimal and former skipper Angelo Matthews were constantly enquiring with the umpires before Sri Lankan manager and Team India head coach Ravi Shastri also came out in the middle to have a discussion.
The Sri Lankan players felt horrible with the air and after the initial intervention play stopped for two more times and it was eventually Virat Kohli’s declaration which ended Sri Lanka’s vigil in the ground. Kohli seemed too annoyed with the look of things and gave a signal to his players that they would instead declare and give a shot at the visitors.
Team Indian skipper Virat Kohli continued his rich vein of form as he smashed his 6th Test double century in his career and also joined Sachin Tendulkar among Indians with most Test double centuries.
