CWC 2023: Mujeeb’s knee jars into sandy Dharamsala outfield to raise safety concerns in World Cup
Mujeeb Ur Rahman jarred his knee into the sandy outfield while diving at Dharamsala during Afghanistan’s opening 2023 World Cup clash with Bangladesh, giving rise to concerns over the safety of the surface at the iconic venue.
During the third ball of the 30th over of Bangladesh’s innings, Shakib al Hasan swept Rashid Khan towards deep backward square leg. Mujeeb ran to his left at the boundary rope to save the four but was unsuccessful as the ball raced past him. Bangladesh were well on course to achieving the target of 157, but the particular incident would have worried Afghanistan more than the eventual result, as Mujeeb slammed his knees into the ground when he landed on the ground.
Upon contact, a cloud of sand and gravel could be seen, which led to safety concerns, with Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott later saying Mujeeb was lucky to escape without series injuries and that an assessment should be made on whether the stadium was fit to host World Cup matches.
“If you’ve 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,” he said. “And when you’ve got players worried about getting injured… I mean, we are lucky Mujeeb hasn’t got a serious knee injury towards the end.”
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was the Player of the Match for taking up 3-25 and scoring 57, said that the outfield felt “heavy”. “The outfield was a little heavy. The ball wasn’t travelling a lot.”
Earlier in the year, the third India-Australia Test had been shifted out of Dharamsala to Indore at the last minute following a poor outfield. Last month, it was reported that the ground had been infected with fungus and that the ICC team had not given a satisfactory review of the outfield in the ground.
Dharamsala are scheduled to host four more games in the World Cup, including England-Bangladesh (October 10), India-New Zealand (October 22) and Australia-New Zealand (October 28).
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