Lucknow. The fourth T20 International match between Team India and South Africa was to be played in Lucknow on Wednesday, December 17, but the match was canceled due to poor visibility. In fact, a layer of dense fog and mist surrounded the Ekana Stadium, raising serious questions on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s plan to hold matches in northern India during the winter months.
New Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Lucknow, Ranchi, Raipur, Visakhapatnam, Cuttack, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Kolkata were selected as the venues for the entire series against South Africa during November and December. This is the time when pollution levels are usually at their worst in host cities like Lucknow, New Chandigarh and Dharamshala. Apart from this, chances of fog are also high.
The fourth T20 International was officially abandoned without a single ball being bowled due to ‘extreme fog’, but the truth was that a thick blanket of pollution and fog had engulfed the Ekana Stadium, reducing visibility to very low levels. On Wednesday, the air quality index (AQI) in Lucknow remained at a dangerous level above 400, raising serious questions on BCCI’s commitment towards the welfare of the players.
Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was seen wearing a surgical mask to avoid pollution during the Indian team’s warm-up before the match. The match, which was scheduled to start at 7 pm, was finally abandoned at 9:30 pm after the sixth inspection. However, this was nothing more than a formality, as everyone present there knew that visibility would worsen as the night progressed.
The players had finished their warm-up session by 7.30 pm and returned to the dressing room. Facing the cold, the crowd of spectators also started decreasing by 9 pm. Rajiv Shukla, vice-president of BCCI and Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, came to the ground during the inspection, but after talking to the match officials, disappointment was clearly visible in his expression.
Last match now in Ahmedabad
With no reserve day, both the teams will now travel to Ahmedabad for the final T20 International to be held on Friday. India is leading 2-1 in the series. The BCCI follows a rotation policy while allotting venues, but the board could consider changing the venue ahead of the limited-overs series against New Zealand starting on January 11.
The Indian team will face New Zealand at venues in Western and Southern India with matches to be played in Vadodara, Rajkot, Indore, Nagpur, Raipur, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram. Only one match is to be held in the north-eastern city of Guwahati. Most of the venues in the North region have been affected by the weather during the winter months. Last week, the third T20 International was played in sub-10 degree temperatures in Dharamshala, which is nestled in the lap of the snow-capped Dhauladhar Range.
After the match, India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty, who hails from Tamil Nadu, admitted that the conditions were particularly difficult for him. He had said, “I have never played on such a cold ground, so I found it quite difficult.” The AQI was in the ‘poor’ category on the day of the match in Dharamshala and was in the ‘severe’ category during the second match in New Chandigarh.
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