Harbhajan Singh complains about conditions unfavourable to play in Delhi

Mumbai Indians’ prime off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was uncomfortable looking at the playing conditions at Feroz Shah Kotla. Harbhajan complained about excessive smog in the ground which made playing difficult for the cricketers as well as caused discomfort to the spectators. Delhi Daredevils hosted the table-toppers of the IPL this season, Mumbai Indians last night as they steamrolled the home team to become the first team to qualify for the playoffs. Mumbai won the match by a record margin of 146 runs as they bundled out the Daredevils for just 66 runs.

MI bowlers had a field day as spinners Karn Sharma and Harbhajan picked up 3 wickets each and broke the back of Daredevils’ middle order. Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell McCleneghan took the vital scalps of Rishab Pant and Sanju Samson. Malinga also chipped in with a couple of wickets. But everything did not go down well with the offie as Bhajji complained about the excessive smog present in the atmosphere of Kotla. He further demanded that proper mitigation should be arranged so that similar situations do not take place in the future

He tweeted today by saying, “The conditions were not very conducive for a match yesterday. A large amount of smog made it really difficult for the players as well as the audience to breathe. This should not be neglected and measures should be taken to reduce it in the future.”

After Diwali last year, Delhi suffered a nightmare as the entire city was enveloped with dark smog which made it difficult for the people to go out of their abodes. People started wearing masks and installing air purifiers to avoid sufferings from lungs diseases due to the polluted air.

The situation escalated quickly as Bengal vs Gujarat at Feroz Shah Kotla and Tripura vs Hyderabad at Karnail Singh Stadium during the Ranji Trophy were abandoned due to unfavourable atmospheric conditions. Players suffered from difficulty in vision and breathing while playing the matches. It is still not clear if U-17 World Cup matches will be played in Kotla.