Well before the fans began to fill the Ekana Stadium to near capacity late on Wednesday evening, Lucknow’s weather had been dropping ominous hints throughout the afternoon. With no play possible in the fourth T20I between India and South Africa due to excessive fog and poor visibility, the match was called off at 9:30 pm.
The fixture being abandoned raises questions over the BCCI’s winter scheduling for this crucial leg of matches before the T20 World Cup in February-March.
It was the first time a night T20I was scheduled at the 50,000-seater venue in December. It will now have the dubious distinction of hosting the first major international match in India called off due to fog. India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was seen in the middle wearing a mask.
Hardik Pandya warming up with a mask on in Lucknow. (PTI Photo)
Lucknow’s Air Quality Index (AQI) at 4 pm on Wednesday was 171, in the ‘moderate’ category as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily bulletin on air pollution. This reading was the average of the past 24 hours. Particulate matter 2.5, which are fine particles, and Particulate Matter 10 were the primary pollutants. At 7 pm, prior to the toss, the air quality index at the Gomti Nagar air pollution monitoring station close to the stadium was 139, also in the moderate category. Private air-quality monitoring websites measured the AQI at 350 in Lucknow at 9pm, half an hour before the match was called off. The expectant crowd had stayed on, like they invariably do at any time of the day in this country – for over five hours after the gates were flung open — only to be informed of what seemed like a foregone conclusion ever since the scheduled 6:30 pm toss was delayed due to poor visibility.
Former India batter Robin Uthappa, on commentary duty, called the decision to delay the first coin flip “counter-intuitive”, for conditions were bound to get worse in sub-15 degree Celsius temperatures. But it took the match officials six inspections to finally call off the game.
After limbering up in the fog that had progressively thickened from even before the floodlights came on at 5 pm, both teams had packed their bags and left the field. Even before the second inspection at 7:30 pm, the square sported a deserted look, apart from the umpires and the ground staff popping up for a review every half hour.
The fog alert in Lucknow remains ‘yellow’ with average visibility between 50 to 200 metres.
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No surprise
Dense fog is expected to blanket the northwest, northeast and some parts of central India till Monday, particularly during morning and late evening hours, the India Meteorological Department has warned. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand will be affected by the weather phenomenon.
The Ekana pitch was oddly smoothened by the heavy roller at 8 pm, and an old carpet soon covered the 22 yards.
By now, the crowd was hoping against hope. Even beaming their mobile flashlights in unison to welcome BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla provided no miracles.
As the evening wore on, several sections of the crowd moved out. A few miffed fans under one of the two cow-corner giant screens made their displeasure known, throwing paper/plastic objects over the railings onto the field.
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But the die was cast. The broadcasters had had their fill of coverage for the night before the screens flashed the “match abandoned” notice at 9:30 pm, leaving thousands of Indian fans out in the cold, yet again.
Scheduling of matches in North Indian winters has been contentious for a while now. In the initial schedule of South Africa’s tour of India, the BCCI has allotted the first Test to Delhi in November, when the pollution levels in the capital are often in hazardous category. But after the decision was flagged, the match was moved to Kolkata.
The third T20 International of the ongoing series was the first time a night match was held in Dharamshala. Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, in his post-match comments, said, “I have never played at a ground that is this chill (chilly) so I found it very challenging.”