This morning, Afghanistan and Bangladesh kicked off their World Cup campaigns at the scenic HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. The two countries faced each other for a mere short period of time as Bangladesh secured an early victory by restricting Afghanistan to just 156 runs for 37.2 overs. Mehidy Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto scored half centuries and made their team win the match by contributing some crucial runs.Â
Something to spy on
While Bangladesh registered victory in the first match of the 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman was on the verge of facing some serious consequences due to the sandy outfield of the stadium. As soon as he dived to get the ball, the right handed batsman slipped away and leaned towards the ground. Though he was actually lucky to escape an injury, the outfield is a matter of serious concern.
Ahead of the incident, Afghanistan’s head coach Jonathan Trott raised his concerns about the extravagant matter and said “If you have got players unsure of whether they can dive… we see the product of cricket all around the world where players are taught, encouraged to improve their fielding, and when you have got players worried about getting injured…I mean, we are lucky Mujeeb hasn’t got a serious knee injury towards the end.”
Another such incident which surfaced
Giving another example on this incident, Trott made it clear that he was not blaming the ground management for Afghanistan’s defeat and added that a similar situation was experienced by New Zealand batter Devon Conway during the match against England.
Earlier, it was learnt that ICC’s pitch consultant Andy Atkinson had not given a satisfactory review about the field in HPCA stadium. BCCI had confirmed that it will soon run a routine check on the field ahead of the first match to be held on October 7. Now as this incident unfolded, it has assumed great importance for the BCCI to look into this matter. India will soon face New Zealand at the HPCA Stadium on October 22.
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
