Sri Lankan bowler vomits in match due to New Delhi's polluted air: media

NEW DELHI, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- During a match against India here, a Sri Lankan player vomited on the field due to heavily polluted air and was helped off the ground Tuesday afternoon, the Guardian reported.

Suranga Lakmal, a fast bowler of the Sri lankan team, was seen bending his body over and vomiting on the field during the fourth day of their third test cricket match in capital city of India, the report said.

The levels of pollutants in the air hovered at about 300 micrograms per cubic meter in Delhi, 12 times the World Health Organization safe limit.

Lakmal, along with another Sri Lankan bowler, had already been seriously affected by air pollution in last test match on Sunday. That match was halted twice more as the haze worsened and players complained they were "continuously retching."

It is the first such interruption in international cricket history.

Lakmal was escorted off the ground by a Sri Lankan team physiotherapist after his teammates, mostly wearing pollution masks, rushed to his aid. Later, Indian pacer Mohammed Shami also vomited in the match.

Schools were shut and doctors declared a public health emergency in Delhi last month as pollution levels spiked to levels 40 times the WHO safe limits, which were likened to smoking at least 50 cigarettes in a day. Enditem