Dharamsala outfield during BAN-AFG World Cup clash raises concerns about players' safety
The sandy outfield at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala was the topic of speculation during the 2023 World Cup game between Bangladesh and Afghanistan on October 7.
Wearing a patchy look devoid of any grass covering before the start of the game, Afghanistan off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman nearly suffered an injury diving at the deep backward square leg region to prevent a boundary. He jammed his knee into the hard ground with a bad-looking fall as the mud kicked up on impact.
Unhappy with the condition of the ground, a member of the Afghanistan setup told Cricbuzz that the venue isn't match-ready for international cricket.
"Yeah, it is sad to see. It is a beautiful place to play cricket...it [outfield] is not ready for international cricket. Not okay. Right now it is not good for international cricket. Maybe it is because of rain... but yeah it is not ready now. The curator says lots of rain happened but if it continues like this, someone will get injured on the ground. No one wants to dive or slide and in cricket you should be able to do that," he said.
The ground faced similar issues earlier this year, with the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy shifted from Dharamsala to Indore due to a lack of grass density on the outfield.
The venue is set to host four other World Cup games, with the next one being England taking on Bangladesh on Tuesday, October 10.
Team India are slated to play one of their league stage games at the picturesque stadium against New Zealand on October 22.
"We're lucky Mujeeb hasn't got a serious knee injury" - Jonathan Trott
Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott expressed his displeasure at the Dharamsala outfield, stating star off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was fortunate to escape serious injury.
With the increasing demands on ground fielding and diving, Trott felt the players constantly worrying about an injury due to the outfield is not ideal.
At the post-game press conference, an unhappy Trott said:
"If you've got players unsure of whether they can dive. We see the product of cricket all around the world where players are taught and encouraged to improve their fielding. Then when you've got players worried about getting injured. We're lucky Mujeeb hasn't got a serious knee injury towards the end."
"Yes he probably shouldn't have dived with his knee but I think it was Devon Conway earlier from New Zealand... It's something for them [organisers] to look at. I'm definitely not putting any blame on that, but that's something to keep an eye on for the future," he added.
However, the Dharamsala outfield was far from the reason for Afghanistan's dismal performance in their World Cup opener. The side put on a disappointing show with the bat, finishing with 156 all-out in the 38th over.
In reply, Bangladesh chased down the score by six wickets with almost 16 overs to spare.
While Afghanistan has no further matches scheduled at Dharamsala, Bangladesh will play England in their next fixture at the same venue on October 10.