England captain Jos Buttler warned his England players against diving in the outfield in their ICC World Cup clash against Bangladesh, calling the Dharamsala outfield “poor” and questioning the location’s suitability to hold a WC match.
The defending champions, England, will face Bangladesh here at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) on Tuesday.
Ahead of the match against Bangladesh, England practiced at the picturesque HPCA stadium, and skipper Buttler admitted that he is worried about the outfield.
“Yeah, a few, I think; it’s poor in my opinion. I think any time you’re sort of talking about being careful diving or sort of being careful when you’re fielding, it sort of goes against everything you want to be as a team. You know you want to dive through our houses to save a run.
So that’s obviously not ideal, the way the surface is, the outfield. But we won’t use it as an excuse; we’ll adapt to it. But yeah, certainly if you feel like you’re having to hold yourself back, it’s not a place you want to be as a team or player, or in a World Cup match,” Buttler said in a press conference.
During Saturday’s match against Bangladesh at the site, Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s leg was stuck in the surface, raising questions about the sandy composition.
Afghanistan’s coach, Jonathan Trott, said Mujeeb was “lucky” to escape a serious injury and also warned England players about the state of the outfield.
Stokes unlikely to play against Bangladesh
DHARAMSALA : Ahead of his side’s ICC Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh, England skipper Jos Buttler said all-rounder Ben Stokes is building towards full fitness and is unlikely to feature in the match. England and Bangladesh will lock horns on Tuesday in their Cricket World Cup clash at the HPCA stadium in Dharamshala. England lost their first match to New Zealand by nine wickets, while Bangladesh won their first match against Afghanistan. Stokes missed the tournament opener due to a hip injury.
