The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that Rawalpindi will now host both matches of the Sri Lanka series to avoid hazardous conditions. The relocated second fixture is scheduled to be played from November 17 to 21. Monitoring organization IQAir recently ranked Lahore as the globe's most polluted major city due to worsening seasonal smog. This marks the latest occasion where dangerous air quality has forced national cricket authorities to alter official match venues.
Key points
Worsening seasonal winter smog in Lahore forced cricket administrators to shift the match…: Worsening seasonal winter smog in Lahore forced cricket administrators to shift the match to Rawalpindi.
Persistent air pollution continues to repeatedly disrupt international cricket fixtures s…: Persistent air pollution continues to repeatedly disrupt international cricket fixtures scheduled in the country.
Previous smog disruptions forced a 2020 Zimbabwe series and a 2022 New Zealand test to re…: Previous smog disruptions forced a 2020 Zimbabwe series and a 2022 New Zealand test to relocate.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Nov 11 : The second match in the two-test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka next week has been moved to Rawalpindi from Lahore due to worsening smog, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Tuesday.
Rawalpindi is currently hosting the series opener, with the second match to be played from November 17-21 as scheduled.
Lahore has been grappling with poor air quality in recent weeks as seasonal smog blankets large parts of Pakistan during the winter months.
According to IQAir, a Swiss air-quality monitoring company, Lahore is currently the most polluted major city in the world.
Air-quality concerns have disrupted cricket schedules in Pakistan before. Smog led to the relocation of a limited-overs series against Zimbabwe from Lahore to Rawalpindi in 2020, and a test against New Zealand from Multan to Karachi in 2022.
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