‘Should’ve kept game in Trivandrum’: Shashi Tharoor after smog IND vs SA Lucknow match called off over smog

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday weighed in after the fourth T20 International between India and South Africa was called off due to dense smog in Lucknow.

Tharoor suggested that the match should have been scheduled in Thiruvananthapuram, instead of a north Indian cities, which are shrouded under dense smog.

The T20 International match between the two countries was abandoned without a ball being bowled as the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium remained under thick blanket of smog on Wednesday evening.

Also Read: Lucknow weather: Smog cancels India-SA match as AQI breaches 200 mark at some places

“Cricket fans have been waiting in vain for the #INDVSSAODI to start in Lucknow. But thanks to dense smog, pervasive in most north Indian cities, and an AQI of 411, visibility is too poor to permit a game of cricket. They should’ve scheduled the game in Thiruvananthapuram, where AQI is about 68 right now!” Tharoor said in a post on X.

Several north Indian cities, including New Delhi, Agra, Lucknow and Chandigarh are shrouded in thick layers of smog. While Delhi recorded an AQI of 334 in the “very poor” category, Lucknow registered an AQI of 171 in the moderate category, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board.

While the Uttar Pradesh capital was under a thick blanket of smog, three monitoring stations in the city recorded an AQI above 200.

Three of the six monitoring stations – Kendriya Vidyalaya, Lalbagh, and Talkatora District Industries Center – witnessed ‘poor’ air quality.