Despite the nation’s capital registering severe air pollution levels, the first T20 International of the three-match series in New Delhi went ahead as per schedule on Sunday with Bangladesh opting to field against India.

Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube was handed his India cap before the start of the game. Batsman Mohammad Naim was handed his debut for Bangladesh.

With the condition worsening during the day, it was announced that schools in Noida, Greater Noida will be closed till Tuesday; while flights were delayed in Delhi. Ten air monitoring stations in the NCR recorded air quality in the ‘severe plus emergency’ category on Sunday.

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The broadcasting team said before the match the conditions were better than they were in the morning, with the visibility improving around the time of sunset. The match, therefore, began on time despite calls for some quarters for the match to be cancelled.

With all-rounder and regular captain Shakib Al Hasn missing due to his ban, stand-in captain Mahmudullah said he was looking to see someone else step up,

“It’s a great opportunity for other guys to step up in absence of Shakib and Tamim,” Mahmudullah said at the toss.

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For Rohit Sharma, it was another chance to test out the youngsters in the side.

“We would have bowled first as well considering the dew factor,” Rohit said. “We will have to access the wicket at the start to see what the fighting score is. This is an opportunity to test out players who have done well in domestic cricket. We have gone with three spinners, two medium-pacers and an allrounder in Dube.”

Teams:

India XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Shivam Dube (debut), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, K Khaleel Ahmed.

Bangladesh XI: Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Naim, Mushfiqur Rahim(wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah(captain), Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Aminul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain.