Bangladesh takes on Sri Lanka in their eighth group phase game at Arun Jaitley Stadium today with Delhi’s air pollution in focus.

The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm though there is no sign that air quality will get better anytime soon considering then fact according to the Indian government agency’s Air Quality Tracking Warning system, the AQI will be in the severe category in the next few days as well.

As the air quality index (AQI) rose above 400 in several places of the capital city, an air emergency was declared in Delhi on Thursday and the government was forced to close schools for two days and impose restrictions on construction and vehicle traffic.

Bangladesh cancelled their schedule training on November 3 due to air pollution while Sri Lanka opted to cancel their training on the following day as part of precaution against the prevailing air pollution that have engulfed the city.

Bangladesh, however, trained for the last two days though on October 4 only Liton Kumar Das and Mustafizur Rahman skipped the training but on Sunday only eight cricketers arrived for the training session.

“Air quality is affecting both teams. It is not ideal. But we have no choice. We have to play in the conditions that’s in front of us,” Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha told reporters in Delhi on Monday.

“We are trying to minimize our exposure to the air quality. We need to practice and still be careful about the long-term effect of these conditions,” he said

 “Our doctors are keeping a close eye on players. Some of our players didn’t turn up for practice. They stayed indoors. We are very conscious during practice. We train what we have to train, then we go back in the dressing room. They don’t spend time outside unless they are bowling or batting. We have taken some measures to minimize our exposure before the game,” he said.