The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rated the outfield at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala 'average'.
It came after Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said that Mujeeb Ur Rahman was lucky to escape serious injury on a visibly patchy outfield at this 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 had stated.
Following this, ICC’s independent pitch consultant Andy Atkinson conducted an inspection on Sunday and gave this verdict after that.
Thankfully, the outfield is good to go for Tuesday’s England vs Bangladesh game.
'The ICC independent pitch consultant has taken a look at the outfield and is comfortable with the conditions – as is Javagal Srinath, the Match Referee for the next game,' an ICC spokesperson stated.