World Cup 2023, ENG vs BAN: Buttler not happy with Dharamsala's outfield

Ahead of their Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh, England captain Jos Buttler made a scathing assessment of Dharamsala's HPCA Stadium outfield, terming it as "poor". Check ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 points table here

The England captain's observation came after Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott had expressed his displeasure over the outfield at the venue after their match against Bangladesh.

While Trott was a bit circumspect in his views, Buttler gave a more candid opinion of his concerns.
 

"Yeah, a few (concerns) I think," Buttler began during his pre-match press meet here on Monday before opening up on the state of the field.

 

"It's poor in my own 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. The outfield is different to when we played here in the IPL," Buttler held forth.

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The Dharamsala's poor outfield took the limelight after several players slipped on the HPCA Stadium outfield while chasing the ball during the match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman fell on his knees while taking a dive, giving some anxious moments to the Afghan camp.

However, Buttler said injury could happen on any surface but entering the match with that premonition on the back of the mind was not a good thing.

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"Yeah, injuries can happen at any time, on any surface, but I think it's (HPCA Stadium) definitely one where you're going to have to be a little bit careful, which isn't what you want to be doing playing for your country.

"You want to put your body on the line and try to save every single run or have confidence in the field. 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."

After the England vs Bangladesh World Cup match, Dharamsala is set to host the South Africa vs Netherlands game before the Indian cricket team locks horns with New Zealand on October 22.