India vs New Zealand: 'We are here to play cricket’, KL Rahul dismisses pollution concerns ahead of 1st T20I

Jaipur: “We are here to play cricket,” said India’s T20 vice-captain KL Rahul when asked about the rising air pollution levels in the city ahead of the series opener against New Zealand. Like Delhi, Jaipur’s air pollution levels too rose after Diwali earlier this month. Jaipur reported very poor AQI levels on Saturday and smog enveloped the city even on Monday morning. “Actually, we haven’t stepped out yet. We just reached the stadium so I don’t know, I don’t have an answer to that. I am not carrying a metre with me in my hand to say how bad the pollution is. [caption id=“attachment_10139571” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of KL Rahul. AP[/caption] “I am sure it won’t be that bad. We all are here to play cricket,” said Rahul before the Indian team’s first practice session on Monday. Meanwhile, new head coach Rahul Dravid oversaw his first training session with the national team in the presence of skipper Rohit Sharma, his colleagues and the other support staff members. The team carried out its first practice session after a three-day quarantine. India are scheduled to play three T20 Internationals against New Zealand on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday respectively, after which the two teams will engage in a two-match Test series.