Srinagar: Former England batter and now head coach of Afghanistan team Jonathan Trott has lashed out at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) for a sub-standard outfield in their opening ICC World Cup 2023 game against Bangladesh on Saturday at Dharamsala.
Trott gave Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s example after the Afghan spinner injured his knee while trying to stop a boundary during Bangladesh’s run chase.
His knee dug into the outfield as he made a slide to stop the ball from touching the fence. He was taken off the field for treatment after the incident.
“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. Something for them to look at but I’m definitely not putting any blame on that for our loss today,” Trott said in the post-match presser.
Dharamsala will host four more games at this World Cup including the India-New Zealand league stage fixture scheduled for October 22.
Earlier India vs Australia Test was moved away from Dharamsala due to the condition of the outfield earlier this year, and it doesn’t seem to have got much better since.