Yesterday was not a great day for Sri Lankan cricket, their bowlers flayed to all parts by a rampant Virat Kohli.

The Indian skipper’s double ton, though, was largely lost in amongst the curious and frightening case of pollution stopped play.

During the second day of the test match play was repeatedly interrupted, with claims that the Sri Lankan players were “continuously vomiting” because of hazardous pollution levels in the Indian capital of New Delhi.

It appears this is the first international match ever to be interrupted for such a reason, as the Guardian reports:

Airborne pollution levels 15 times the World Health Organisation limits confronted players on the second day of the third Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi on Sunday.

As the haze worsened, many Sri Lankan players returned from lunch wearing face masks before complaining to umpires, who halted play for 20 minutes to consult with team doctors and match officials.

The match resumed but was interrupted twice more as bowlers Lahiru Gamage and Suranga Lakmal left the field mid-over with breathing difficulties.

“We had players coming off the field and vomiting,” the Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas told reporters after the match.

“There were oxygen cylinders in the change room. It’s not normal for players to suffer in that way while playing the game.”

Pothas said Lakmal was “continuously vomiting” in the changing room. “I think it’s the first time that everybody has come across that situation,” he said.

The match has continued today, with Sri Lanka batting (HERE), but there were some nasty scenes toward the end of the day with tempers flaring between the opposing teams and management.

With Sri Lanka clearly struggling, players running off the field and the visitors struggling to put 11 healthy players on the field, the crowd turned to booing.

Also unimpressed was the acting president of India’s cricket board, who said he intended to write a letter to the Sri Lankan board:

“If 20,000 people in the stands did not have problems and the Indian team did not face any issue, I wonder why the Sri Lankan team made a big fuss?” CK Khanna said.

All round just not a very good look for cricket, right?

[source:guardian]