Sri Lanka cricket team coach Nic Pothas said the team management was concerned about the players’ health and had oxygen cylinders in the dressing room as the likes of Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage and Dhananjaya de Silva were vomiting. 

Delhi’s toxic air interrupted the third Test between Indian cricket team and Sri Lanka for around 20 minutes on Sunday when thick haze brought the visibility down after the lunch break. It was, probably, the first time an international match was disrupted by pollution. 

‘Obviously it is well documented that Delhi has high level of pollution,’ Pothas told the media, reports the Hindustan Times.

‘They had got extremely high at one point, we had players coming in at one point and vomiting. There were oxygen cylinders in the dressing room,’ said the coach. ‘It is not normal for players to suffer in that way while playing the game. From our point of view it has to be stated that it is a very unique case. ‘We had to play cricket. Under all circumstance, we wanted to play cricket. We just wanted to have some clarity on the safely of players.’

Pothas also had a long discussion with the match officials during the period.

‘The captain wanted to speak to me about the fact that we had only ten people at one stage as there were not enough people to get on the field,’ explained Pothas about the conversation. ‘The umpires were very clear where they were coming from. I don’t envy them. Their position was tough as well. There aren’t too many rules written on pollution.’

When asked what Sri Lanka’s position would be if the situation is similar on Monday, Pothas said it’s all up to the match officials and the referee.

‘I haven’t spoken to anyone as to what we are going to do. That’s in the hands of match referee and umpires and I am sure they will put in place some sort of precedence if that happens on Monday again,’ he added.

While Pothas praised Angelo Mathews for his fighting fifty, he also said Dilruwan Perera – who opened the innings in place of the injured Sadeera Samarawickrama – was the one who took it upon himself to go after the Indian bowlers early on.

‘I think Angelo Mathews batted beautifully. Credit to him. As for Dilruwan, he has already contributed with the bat. Credit to him for putting his hand up. We had to look at options with Sadeera’s situation. Dilruwan stepped up and said I will do it. That’s his character.’