4 min readDharamsalaOct 9, 2023 04:33 PM IST
First published on: Oct 9, 2023 at 12:40 AM IST
A day after Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said that Mujeeb Ur Rahman was lucky to escape serious injury on a visibly patchy Dharamsala outfield, the International Cricket Council has judged it ‘average’ but good to go for Tuesday’s England-Bangladesh game.
The verdict on the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium’s outfield comes after an inspection by the ICC’s independent pitch consultant Andy Atkinson on Sunday.
“The process for assessing the condition of the pitch and outfield lies with the match officials under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, and the outfield at Dharamsala was rated as ‘average’ after the Afghanistan-Bangladesh match. Additionally, the ICC independent pitch consultant has taken a look at the outfield today, and is comfortable with the conditions – as is Javagal Srinath, the Match Referee for the next game,” an ICC spokesperson stated.
The patchy outfield at Dharamsala saw little sand explosions throughout Saturday’s game and witnessed fielders from both teams slipping in their attempts to run after the ball. The puffs of dust from the impact of the ball on the surface, and the bowlers’ footmarks were also visible all over the ground. A couple of Afghanistan players would also slip during regulation fielding drills in the team’s first training session on the ground on Thursday, leading to head coach Trott criticising the outfield on offer.
“We see in cricket players being encouraged to improve their fielding but if they are afraid to dive, I mean we’re lucky Mujeeb (Ur Rahman) didn’t have a serious knee injury towards the end. We saw Devon Conway from New Zealand early on as well (in the tournament opener against England on Thursday). Something for them to look at but I’m definitely not putting any blame on that for our loss today,” the former England batsman said.
The outfield was watered after the game on Saturday and again on Sunday, with less than 48 hours to go for the next World Cup game at the venue.
England opener Jonny Bairstow would also weigh in on the issue during his side’s first training session ahead of their game against Bangladesh.
“There’s been a lot of chat about it. It’s just about being smart about it. The last thing you want is guys going off with knee injuries or something. It will be very difficult to hold someone back if they see a ball and they try to stop it – it’s a natural reaction to go for it. You might be a bit more clever about how you go about it – it might affect your angles and where you stand,” Bairstow said.
The outfield at Dharamsala has been under the scanner owing to heavy rain in the region in the months preceding the World Cup, which had also led to the outfield being infested with fungus a month before the tournament. The organisers had since been in a race against time to provide a suitable outfield for the marquee tournament.
Earlier this year, the third India-Australia Test was also moved to Indore from Dharamsala after the HPCA failed to prepare a playable outfield in time for the game.
The venue is scheduled to host four more games at this World Cup, including the India-New Zealand league stage fixture on October 22.
England's players during a practice session ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh, at HPCA Stadium, in Dharamshala, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (PTI Photo) 
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