Sourav Ganguly urged to shift first Bangladesh T20I out of Delhi

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly is being urged by environmentalists to shift the first India vs. Bangladesh T20I on Sunday out of the capital city of Delhi due to concerns of deteriorating air quality. Environmentalist organisations wrote a letter to Ganguly, regarding the same. Air pollution in Delhi has been an issue since decades after pollution levels are noted to rise every winter due to multiple factors including Diwali celebrations.

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Health risks for players and spectators alike

Jyoti Pande from 'Care for Air' and Ravina Raj Kohli from 'My Right to Breathe' in their letter mentioned the declining quality of air in the Indian capital. The letter mentioned the physiological nature of the aerobic activity which would force players to take deeper breaths and leave them more vulnerable to the toxins in the air for a period of three to four hours. The letter further added the risks posed to the thousands of match spectators in the stands. 

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A similar incident happened in December 2017 when Sri Lanka was being hosted in a Test match in what is now known as the Arun Jaitley Stadium at Delhi. Some of the players fell ill while they wore face masks to continue playing in the game. Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, had earlier mentioned how his government was hoping that the air pollution levels in Delhi do not affect the first T20I against Bangladesh. There have been no reported replies to the letter from the BCCI yet.

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Controversy-ridden Bangladesh to face India in tour

Only a week ago, Bangladesh's participation for their scheduled tour of India was uncertain. An agitation led by senior player Shakib Al Hasan saw the Bangladeshi players joining hands to fight for their rights against the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Although the board acknowledged the players' demands and the agitation was called off, in a major turn of events - Shakib himself got handed a two-year ban by the ICC for failing to disclose the approaches he received from bookies. 

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