NEWS
Follow UsEngland captain Jos Buttler wants his players to be “a little bit careful” while fielding at Dharamsala's Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association stadium. The 33-year-old said his fielders will have to hold back against Bangladesh on Tuesday (October 10) and that’s “not an ideal situation” in a World Cup match.
These comments come after the ICC gave the outfield at Dharamsala an ‘Average’ rating. During the Bangladesh-Afghanistan match on October 7, the grass on the sand-based outfield was visibly patchy and uneven and many players found it difficult to field. In fact, Mujeeb Ur Rahman had his left knee jammed into the outfield while trying to save a boundary.
“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," said Buttler.
So that's obviously not ideal, the way the surface is, the outfield. But we won't use it as an excuse, we'll adapt to it. But yeah, certainly 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 in a World Cup match."
Talking about the Mujeeb incident and how England players are going to deal with it, Buttler added: “Injuries can happen at any time, can't they, on any surface, but I think it's 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 be trying to save every single run or have confidence in the field.
"Naturally, you want to be instinctive in the field. If you see a ball, you want to dive for it. So, it's unique, I think, to be honest. So, it's not as good as it could be or should be, but it's going to be the same for both teams, and the wicket looks fantastic.”
But what about the bowling run-up areas? “I think again the same, it's just getting that level of trust. Certainly, guys tearing in and trying to bowl fast, they need that confidence in the run-up. It will take guys a couple of balls probably to get used to it but they are professionals, they'll adapt.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh spin bowling coach Rangana Herath said he wouldn't put any restrictions on his fielders and wants them to give their best. "We are not going to restrict anything because if you ask someone to restrict something, in that case, they don't give their 100%. I'm sure that they did well that previous game, so we are asking to give their best even in the outfield as well.
"I think ICC have done a lot of hard work on that. So, in that case, I think they think that because of the standard that they have maintained, they have given that authority to play One-Day International. So, in that case, I'm happy with it."
Bangladesh won their first game, while the defending champions were humbled by New Zealand. “We know we didn't play as well as we can in the last game and you're always desperate to put that right, both individually and as a team. So, there's plenty of hunger in the group and we're excited to get back on the field," said Buttler.
