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DHARAMSALA, India, March 9 (Reuters) – Ben Stokes will miss Tuesday’s game against Bangladesh, but England captain Jos Buttler is more worried about his outfield at Dharamshala and is unlikely to be ideal for the World Cup match. I don’t think so.
Former England batsman and Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott questioned the state of the outfield after spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman narrowly missed out after hitting his knee on the sand.
Although the International Cricket Council (ICC) has given the outfield an “average” rating and allowed World Cup matches to be played, concerns about the safety of players when fielding persist.
“In my own opinion, it’s terrible,” Buttler told reporters ahead of the game against Bangladesh on Monday.
“Anytime you say be careful with your dives or be careful on defense, that goes against everything we want as a team.”
“So it’s obviously not ideal given the surface and the outfield situation. But we’re not going to use that as an excuse. We’ll adapt to it.”
Defending champions England will be looking to bounce back from a heavy nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand in Thursday’s tournament opener in Ahmedabad.
The lack of safety in the outfield is even more serious for the team, which is concerned about the fitness of Stokes, who missed the first game due to a minor hip problem.
“You want to put your body on the line and try to prevent all the goals conceded and be confident on the field. So it’s not as good as you could hope for or as good as it should be, but I think it’s the same for both teams. .The wicket is also great,” Butler said.
Bangladesh spin bowling coach Rangana Heras said he was satisfied with the outfield that defeated Afghanistan on Saturday and would not instruct his players to avoid sliding.
“No, we are not going to limit anything, because if you ask someone to limit something, in that case they will not give 100%,” said the former Sri Lankan spinner the businessman said.
“I want him to do his best in the outfield as well.”
While Bangladesh are upbeat after defeating Afghanistan in their first match, Buttler spoke candidly about England’s dreadful start to their title defense.
“We know we didn’t play as well as we would have liked in the last game, but we’re always trying to make things right, individually and as a team,” the England captain said.
“So there’s a lot of hunger in the group and excitement to get back on the field.”
England’s match against Afghanistan in New Delhi on October 15 looks like a more realistic target for Stokes to return to action.
“It’s good to see him back in net and recovering towards full fitness, but probably not tomorrow,” Butler said.
Report by Amran Chakraborty in New Delhi.Editing: Ed Osmond and Christian Radnedge
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