(Reuters) – England all-rounder Sam Curran said they were thankful to have come through Tuesday’s World Cup win over Bangladesh without picking up injuries after players struggled to keep their feet due to the state of the Dharamsala outfield.
While the venue, located in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, is considered one of the most picturesque grounds in the world the state of the outfield left a lot to be desired, with bowlers and fielders forced to exercise caution on the uneven grass.
England skipper Jos Buttler said before the game that the outfield was in “poor” condition while it was given an ‘average’ rating by the International Cricket Council.
“It was pretty bad,” Curran said. “We’re pretty happy to get through that game without any injuries … That’s pretty important and we don’t have to come back here.
“Hopefully, the outfield does get better. It’s not very nice, what’s happened to it. But I thought the wicket was really good. Luckily we’re all fit.”
Dharamsala will host three more World Cup matches this month with South Africa playing the Netherlands next week before New Zealand play twice, against India and Australia.
England’s Reece Topley ripped through Bangladesh’s top order to set up the 137-run victory for the reigning champions with figures of 4-43 but the fast bowler said he had to shorten his run-up due to the conditions.
“The legs are a bit heavier than normal on this outfield, for sure. Running in to bowl, you barely felt like you were making it to the crease,” Topley said.
“It was a unique challenge at this ground and we responded in the right way. Jos told us to get on with it, so we did.”
Bangladesh bowler Taskin Ahmed said the soft outfield made running difficult.
“Everyone felt that we were a little off-balance or slipping in the run-up,” he said.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
