00:00That's Congress MP Shashi Tharoor suggesting that the India-South Africa match be shifted out of Lucknow, even floating Kerala as an option.
00:12Now Kerala's air quality is generally far cleaner than North India's winter spark.
00:16But here's the thing, it isn't pristine either.
00:19Cities like Kochi, Alapura, Korikot do slip into poor or unhealthy air quality AQI levels crossing 100, especially in winters.
00:27Still, that's a far cry from Lucknow where AQI on matchday hovered close to 400, firmly in the severe category.
00:34But that contrast itself says something about what we have come to accept as normal air.
00:39India, after all, is home to 13 of the world's 20 most polluted cities.
00:43Back to South Africa vs India match where not one, not two, not three, six inspections took place.
00:50The T20 match in Lucknow was eventually abandoned without a single ball being bowled after repeated delays to the toss and officials citing poor visibility caused by excessive smog.
01:00Players like Hardik Panya were even seen wearing masks.
01:03And this isn't a first.
01:04In December 2017, during a test match between India and Sri Lanka in Delhi, players wore masks on the field as pollution levels so to nearly 15 times the World Health Organization's safe limits.
01:14Some players complained of nausea, one reportedly vomited during play.
01:18At the time, commentators described it as the first recorded instance of an international cricket match being visibly affected by toxic smog.
01:26The question of not hosting international cricket matches in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata again came up in 2019,
01:34when an international T20 match between India and Bangladesh on November 3rd, 2023 at the Arun Jaitli Stadium was to be played.
01:41Years on, the question is obvious.
01:44Has the situation improved?
01:45In November 2025, the growing air pollution problem in Delhi has forced BCCI to move the knockout matches of the annual men's under-23 one-day tournament to Mumbai.
01:55A 2018 climate report states that of all the major outdoor sports that rely on fields or pitches, cricket will be the hardest hit by climate change.
02:03Global warming is already wreaking havoc on our sport.
02:06Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia's Test cricket team, which played five-day matches, wrote in The Guardian in 2022.
02:13Cricket has already adjusted to extreme heat, rain disruptions and shrinking plain windows.
02:18Now, pollution is forcing another reckoning.
02:21What do you think?
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