It all started at 12.32pm. The haze became worse ,Sri Lankan players wore air masks and complained to field umpires Nigel Llong and Joel Wilson. Indian skipper Virat Kohli was batting at 240, along with Ravichandran Ashwin on 4. It was a 17-minute-long break. The umpires did not listen to Dinesh Chandimal and his teammates, and called for the play to resume.
This came at a time when Kohli surpassed his highest test score of 235 (against England in 2016), and was looking to consolidate India's innings. The score stood at 519-5, in 123 overs.
The Real Time Air Quality Index (AQI) at ITO in the national capital showed 206—rated "very unhealthy" by the Pollution Control Board (PCB). The light worsened, and floodlights were switched on.
According to THE WEEK sources, Sri Lankan players complained to ICC match referee David Boon the previous evening about the pollution in Delhi, asking him to call off play but he reportedly refused saying that if the players were uncomfortable, they could wear masks while fielding.
A second break happened at 1.15pm. Kohli threw his bat down in disgust. This time, it lasted five minutes. The Lankan players complained again. Their team manager Asanka Gurusinha came on the field for a word with the umpires. Seeing that, India head coach Ravi Shastri too entered the field of play, walking purposefully towards the umpires, and had a word with them.
Play resumed after a break of five minutes. But soon a third interruption followed. Two of the Lankan medium pacers Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Gamage went off the field. Lanka was fielding with 10 players. The umpires noticed it after a few minutes of play, and while another break happened, Kohli signalled furiously to the two Indian batsmen in the middle—Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja—to come off. He was declaring the innings at 536-7 with Saha on 38* and Jadeja on 20*.
