Under fire after several fielders dangerously slipped on the outfield during the ICC World Cup 2023 game between Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) ground in Dharamsala received a sigh of relief after the International Cricket Council (ICC) independent pitch consultant Andy Atkinson rated it as ‘average’ and more importantly gave a green signal for Tuesday’s England-Bangladesh game.
“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.
On Saturday, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott lashed out at the ground while terming Mujeeb Ur Rahman ‘lucky’ to escape serious injury on the outfield, eventually prompting the global cricket body to conduct an inspection on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Dharamsala ground witnessed sand explosions, with fielders from either sides slipping while running towards the boundary ropes. The puffs of dust from the impact of the ball on the surface, and the bowlers’ footmarks were also visible all over the ground.
“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 has been sprayed with water on Saturday and Sunday to avoid sand explosions in the next fixture.
On Monday, England skipper Jos Buttler said the surface isn’t ideal to put in dives, but doesn’t want to use it as an excuse when they take the field against Bangladesh on Tuesday.
“It goes against everything you want to be as a team. You want to dive to save a run. The way the surface is, it’s not ideal. We won’t use it as an excuse but it’s certainly going to hold yourself back from a place you want to be as a team,” Buttler said on the eve of the game.
In the run-up to the global tournament, the venue has experienced heavy rainfall that led to the outfield being infested with fungus a month before the tournament. Since then the organizers have been running against time to prepare a suitable outfield for conducting the World Cup.
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.