The outfield at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala that looked patchy in the Afghanistan-Bangladesh fixture on Saturday has been rated ‘average’. However, that will not hinder the next game between England and Bangladesh from going ahead on Tuesday (October 10) as a spokesperson from the ICC confirmed that the board’s independent pitch consultant Andy Atkinson is ‘comfortable with the conditions’.
“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 v 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 was quoted as saying.
The Dharamsala outfield came under the scanner in the first game of the World Cup at the venue as Mujeeb Ur Rahman nearly got injured while putting in a dive in the deep as he ended up jamming his knee on the hard soil beneath that caused some of the soil to kick up. On Sunday, members of the support staff were seen working on that area of the ground. At the same time, head curator of the venue Sunil Chauhan and a few others went around the ground inspecting the surface.
Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott had said his players were unsure of putting in a dive and another member of their team management reckoned that the outfield was not fit for hosting international games but, upon inspection, the ICC – including match referee for the next fixture Javagal Srinath – have given the game a go-ahead.
