 "Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins")
Australian cricketer Mitchell Marsh refuted any rumours of his team being affected by Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) ahead of their ICC World Cup 2023 match against the Netherlands on Thursday, 24 October.
During the pre-match press conference, a journalist asked the Australian batter, "Wondering about the air quality, Mitch. When you were training out there last night, did you kind of notice a bit of a difference? And have you guys discussed any measures you can take to overcome it?"
Replying to this, Marsh said, "No. I think the only time I'm affected by the air quality is when my golf ball goes up in the air and I can't see it but apart from that, absolutely no stress in mind."
This had the entire room in splits before the next question was asked.
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Beautiful welcome in Delhi. #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/0b3dkaHolJ
— CricketNetherlands (@KNCBcricket) October 22, 2023
Though always in the news for bad reasons, Delhi's air quality has not deteriorated a lot so far this season. The PM 2.5 value has dwindled to the late 160s in the evening and with the Dussehra celebration due on Tuesday, it will only get worse. However, as Australia have already played in Lucknow, Chennai, and Bengaluru, they are more or less attuned to the Indian conditions.
The Infamous Sri Lanka Test
In December 2017, the Sri Lanka cricket team wore masks while fielding at the Arun Jaitley Stadium during a Test match. This put Delhi's air on the cricket map. Since then, hosting cricket matches in winter in Delhi has been a difficult proposition.
