Afghanistan's star spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman almost picked up a serious injury after his left knee jammed into the sandy outfield when he attempted to save a boundary during their opening match of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Bangladesh at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has given its verdict as the Match Referee Javagal Srinath gave the ground an ‘Average’ rating that will prevent the stadium from facing any sanctions.
A spokesperson said, “The ICC independent pitch consultant has taken a look at the outfield today and is comfortable with the conditions as is Javagal Srinath, the Match Referee for the next game.”
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As per ICC's rating system for the pitch and outfield, there are six categories for the match referee to make a decision on the same - ‘Very Good’, ‘Good’, ‘Average’, ‘Below Average’, ‘Poor’, and ‘Unfit’. If a pitch is given an Average rating or above, the stadium is not given any demerit points. Only if a venue gets a ‘Below Average’, ‘Poor’ or ‘Unfit’ rating, are demerit points given.
With the defending champions England scheduled to play their next match at the same venue, their fielders will be up for a challenging day in Dharamsala on Tuesday
They have received a warning about the condition of the outfield at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium from their former batter and current Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott.
The outfield has been a concern for a period of time at the venue and had caused an India-Australia Test to be moved to Indore at short notice earlier this year.
In case the situation gets worse at the venue, the umpires could - after consultation with the match referee, declare the condition of the ground as "dangerous or unreasonable."
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The match further can be suspended and then abandoned with both teams sharing a point each.
England will be up against Bangladesh On Tuesday where Ahsan Raza and Paul Wilson will be the standing umpires, with Srinath as the match referee.