India’s first T20I against Bangladesh on Sunday was marred with controversies. Before the start of the series, the Bangladesh players went on strike against their cricket board, and after that issue was dealt with by the BCB, the team suffered a major setback with star player Shakib Al Hasan being suspended by the ICC for a year for not reporting approaches by a bookie.
Even as the team looked to move past all this and get on with the cricket, the venue of their first fixture against India was covered in smog. The air quality of Delhi dropped to severe levels following the Diwali celebrations in the capital and even though many players in the Bangladeshi team wore masks for both their practice sessions, the management remained optimistic about the smog not affecting their performance on the field.
However, espncricinfo.com has now confirmed that two players threw up on the field during the series opener on Sunday night.
Before the match, there were multiple pleas made to the Delhi Government and the BCCI to either cancel or reschedule the fixture but BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said since the game had been scheduled months back, it was not possible to move it.
There were also reports that both Rohit Sharma and the Bangladesh team management had told the board that they were okay with going ahead with the fixture.
According to espncricinfo.com, Soumya Sarkar and at least one other Bangladesh player threw up on the field after playing in difficult conditions.
Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim said post match that his team found it hard to cope up with the weather ever since their arrival in India but pollution was not an issue for him. Rahim scored an unbeaten 60 to lead Bangladesh to their maiden T20I victory over India in Sunday’s fixture.
“Pollution is not an issue for me. I was more concerned about facing the opposition bowlers than worry about pollution.”Mushfiqur Rahman
Sourav Ganguly tweeted in support of both the teams for toughing it out in the horrible conditions. “Thank u to both the teams to play this game @ImRo45 @BCBtigers under tuff conditions .. well done bangladesh ..(sic)”
The second T20I of the three match series will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot on 7 November. Bangladesh lead the series 1-0, which means another win can clinch the series in their favour on away soil.
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