SURENDRA PANWAR
History has the uncanny trait of reminding us of unpleasant events. While 1.4 billion along with popular brands and political personalities are celebrating India’s Champions Trophy win in Dubai, its third in a total of nine editions, I am still haunted by the final of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy which was washed out not once but twice on 29 and 30 September 2002 at
the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The match ended with both India and Srilanka being decaled as joint winners.
The 2025 edition too was marred by unexpected rains resulting in abandonment of two matches and partially affecting one in Pakistan. This is not new in cricketing history. In 2020 Australia's bushfires had their first major impact on the professional cricket season, with the Sydney Thunder's KFC Big Bash game against the Adelaide Strikers at Manuka Oval abandoned due to heavy smoke. This led to the cricketing legends like Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Yuvraj Singh and Wasim Akram participating in Bushfire Cricket Bash which raised more than $7.7m for the communities devastated by the fires that have ravaged Australia for months.
This perhaps set off a debate as how cricket, the second most popular sports in terms of
viewership after football, numbering more than 2 billion, is going to cope with the vagaries of
changing weather patterns, against the backdrop of global debates on climate change. Rising
number of floods in England, the father of modern cricket, rising sea level in Sri Lanka, storms in
Bangladesh, smog and extreme heat events in India and Pakistan and drought spells in South
Africa have raised legitimate concerns not only among cricketing fraternity but also the players
who are getting more and more prone to injuries.
This time too many prominent players were
missing from the Champions Trophy.
Unfortunately, South Asian nations which have the largest cricket lovers and are under climate change impact radar are yet to respond positively to this debate. The recent example of
International Council Council’s (ICC) insensitivity towards this concern is to allow a hybrid model of Champions Trophy forcing a large number of flights carrying fans and players to UAE,
a water-stress country. Pakistan is the official hot of the tournament. The movement of people
in mega sporting event usually results in increased carbon footprint.
But long before the Champions Trophy 2025 there were murmurs about climate change impact
on cricket. Recently former English player Ashley Giles, CEO, Worcestershire County Cricket
Club in a press release in February, 2024, said that they were facing significant concerns about
our sustainability due to the increasing volume and regularity of flooding at New Road. These
flood events have had a severe impact on our cricket operations, business, and revenues,
posing a serious threat to the future of the club.
“As we navigate these very real challenges, the Board of Worcestershire County Cricket Club is
awaiting the delivery of a comprehensive report that aims to provide an evidence-based
assessment of the current situation, moving beyond emotional responses to present clear,
factual insights, and look at potential options for redevelopment and flood mitigation that
would enable an economically viable, continued presence at New Road’, he said.
One of the most immediate impacts of climate change on sport is extreme heat. The rising
global temperature is making heat waves more frequent, prolonged, and severe. This has direct
consequences for athletes, increasing the risk of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and even life-
threatening conditions like heatstroke.
Cricket which is played for almost eight hours a day and one of the endurance sports, is
particularly affected, as players must sustain high physical exertion in rising temperatures and
humid conditions over prolonged periods of time. Cricket is also the sport which is dependent
on the whims of weather making it susceptible to interruptions and modifications. Some of
these modifications adopted in the past couple of decades are: Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS)
Method (adapting to rain-affected Matches), shortened overs (adjusting the duration of
Innings), Reduced Target (modifying the required run chase).
Apart from these modifications, the teams have learnt to make better use of pitch conditions,
effective bowling amid moisture laden air, adjust or improve fielding tactics, adopt futuristic
protective gears for the players, especially the batters and building specialized centers for
sports injuries, improve infrastructure to ward off weather related hindrances and adopt better
technology and weather furcating system including real-time weather updates.
In its Game Changer report published in 2018, Climate Coalition said that “of all the major pitch
sports, cricket will be the hardest hit by climate change.” During last year’s men’s Cricket World
Cup in India, extreme heat and elevated humidity affected 20 out of the 47 matches. “It is not
ideal and everyone knows that,” the report quoted Indian captain Rohit Sharma as saying,
referring to the challenging weather conditions.
The adverse and agonizing conditions of 2023 World Cup pointed to concerns for another
potential climate threat to the Summer World Cup, June in the US and West Indies 2024.
Fortunately, the weather did not affect the matches, but India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad
members were stuck in Bridgetown, Barbados, for a couple of days after Hurricane Beryl lashed
the island with incessant rain and wind speed up to 210kmph.
The weather conditions are taking heavy toll on the cricketers. Conditions like heat cramps,
heat exhaustion and heat strokes are common on cricket field. During the 2023 World Cup
tournament in Mumbai, India, Australia's star player Glenn Maxwell collapsed on the ground in
the middle of his innings, with his body spasming from debilitating muscle cramps. That day,
Mumbai recorded a temperature high of 34C and 84% humidity levels.
The Hit for Six, a report dwelt at length on the debilitating impacts of climate change on cricket,
which for the first time combines climate science and heat physiology, reported: “A day at the
crease can be compared to running a marathon wearing helmet, gloves and pads. And when

the air temperature is higher than skin temperature – typically around 33-35C – only sweat can
stop the body from heating up. Protective clothing and high humidity make this less effective.”
Indeed, thick pads, gloves, and helmets are known to impede ventilation, causing players to
experience health effects like heat exhaustion, stress, fainting, and vomiting.
According to the report, the major cricket league nations including South Asians countries like
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and new ICC associate member Nepal are at the higher
risk of decreased freshwater availability in rivers and lakes. It says that and the game’s
adaptation and team strategies need to change to suit the changing pitch conditions. A dry
pitch impacts the consistency and bounce of the ball, affecting the bowler’s ability to take
wickets, while higher temperatures result in cracks on the pitch, making it uneven and
unpredictable for batsmen. The Indian Premier League is also facing these challenges.
Climate change-related water shortages and droughts are adding pressure on national cricket
authorities and governments from India to South Africa to minimize water use. Indeed, a
standard cricket stadium requires 2,70,000-3,00,000 liters per week to keep the ground in a
healthy and safe condition. In the summer months, the amount is significantly higher.
Based on safety-related heat stress indices and erratic rainfall, more games are also being
postponed and rescheduled to cooler times of the day.
In 2020, the Global Climate Risk Index ranked Bangladesh and Pakistan, two countries in which
cricket is highly popular, seventh and eight , respectively, on the list of countries most
vulnerable to climate change. The situation in India is not looking much more encouraging
either, with climate scientists predicting an erratic pattern in the future, with intense
precipitation, prolonged drought spells, extreme heat, and rainfall.
To date, Australia is the only major league cricket nation that has published guidelines for
playing in extreme heat conditions. Their policies include recommendations for appropriate
clothing, provision of water and ice, and player rest and rotation.
The UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, an initiative which aims at supporting and
guiding sports actors in achieving global climate change goals, is yet to be joined by The
International Cricket Council (ICC. FIFA is part of this initiative.
It is high time that ICC chalked out a sustainable comprehensive climate safety strategy so that
the game and the players can be saved from the onslaught of climate change.

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