Image Credit: CricInfo.
Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi [December 2-6, 2017].
On December 13, 2026, India and Sri Lanka were supposed to play an ODI match in Delhi. However, the BCCI has decided to shift the venue to Vishakhapatnam because of the pollution issues. Regrettably, it is not the first time that pollution has played a spoiler in Delhi. During one of the test matches in December 2017 between the same opponents, i.e., India and Sri Lanka, we witnessed a similar crisis. The air pollution in Delhi had reached such a level that the players were forced to use masks and oxygen cylinders. Moreover, multiple players were reported to have shortness of breath, with some even vomiting in regular intervals.
Interestingly, the test match did produce multiple memorable moments. Captain Kohli played a magnificent knock of 243 as the Indians declared a massive total of 536/7. The local lad who was in the form of his life went ballistic as he hammered 25 boundaries in an innings, which lasted for more than 7 hours. Mind you, it was not an easy condition to bat upon, but it didn't affect the King, who went on to score his sixth double century before his home crowd. It was truly a delight to watch. Moreover, Kohli and Vijay (155) shared a massive partnership of 283 runs, which was an all-time highest for any batting pair against Sri Lanka. However, high levels of air pollution halted play on multiple occasions.
Despite the air pollution issue, the Sri Lankans did take on the field after the consultations and fought hard like worthy opponents. Not only they batted efficiently in the first innings and avoided the follow-on, but they also survived the second innings and forced the result into a draw. Furthermore, in the fourth innings, the visitors batted for more than 100 overs, with Dhananjaya de Silva scoring a gritty 119 before getting retired hurt. Post de Silva's departure, Roshen Silva, and Niroshan Dickwella also gave everything on the pitch to save the match for their country.
The Indians won the 3-match series 1-0, with Kohli being declared both man of the match and man of the series. However, both the teams criticized the management for organizing a test match in Delhi amidst high pollution. The condition was so bad that even the president of the Indian Medical Association, KK Agarwal, came into the defense of the players who were receiving criticism for being melodramatic and said that "playing in such conditions could result in lung and heart disease and recommended the inclusion of atmospheric pollution as a factor in the assessment criteria for a match."
Fortunately, the Board did take his opinion into consideration this time, and the venue for the One-Day International has been shifted to Vishakhapatnam.
To watch the Epic Knock of Virat Kohli, Click Here.
No comments:
Post a Comment