Widely renowned for its picturesque surroundings, which has made it one of the most popular stops on the cricket circuit, danger looms in Dharamshala, where the Proteas play their next World Cup match on Tuesday.
Situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, the snow-capped mountain range provides a beautiful backdrop to the HPSCA Stadium, where the Proteas will face the Netherlands.
While the players, who arrived yesterday, have already filled social media with pictures of wooded and mountainous vistas, thoughts of the coaching staff have been on how to manage playing at the HSPCA Stadium, which has come in for severe criticism in the first week of the World Cup.
Players and coaches from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and England have described the outfield as dangerous, with England seamer Sam Curran calling it “pretty bad”. Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan’s coach, said one of his side’s fast bowlers, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, was “lucky” to escape “a serious knee injury”.
Another England fast bowler, Reece Topley, who took four wickets there in his side’s victory against Bangladesh, said he had shortened his run-up, because the softness of the surface was heavy on the legs. “Running in to bowl, you barely felt like you were making it to the crease.”
The Proteas will train at the venue today, and head coach Rob Walter said he was aware of the criticism of the venue. “It will impact what we do from a fielding point of view,” said Walter.
“For those guys who do prefer doing it that way, you are not going to be diving or sliding — that’s definitely a no-go zone.”
The ICC had assessed the ground before previous matches and, besides rating it as “average,” have said it is good enough to play in.
The problems are a result of an excessively sandy base beneath the grass, which has been softened by increased rain during the monsoon season.
However, Walter insisted it wouldn’t lead to the Proteas changing their starting team, especially the bowlers, to protect them for matches later in the tournament on firmer surfaces. “It wouldn’t change how we look at the game in terms of selection,” he said.
There is very little emphasis on what has happened, rather it’s about what we can control in the next few days
— Rob Walter
Walter described Thursday’s triumph over Australia as a “bowling win”, explaining how having endured criticism for much of the season so far, the seam bowlers stepped up to the mark. “It was a clinical performance from the bowlers.”
Yet it is Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada who, given the nature of their roles, would be most susceptible to injury on the tricky outfield.
“The beauty of our start is that we have had nice breaks in between and had opportunities to recover well, train and the prep well. It’s about playing whatever we feel is the strongest team on the day.”
Victory in their opening two matches has provided the Proteas with a perfect platform for the remainder of the tournament, with the pursuit of six wins to secure a semifinal berth well within their grasp.
That should ensure any sense of complacency will be absent against the Netherlands, a team that knocked them out of the T20 World Cup in Australia last year. “The only thing the past gives us is learning — so what did we learn from that? Anyone can beat anyone if you don’t rock up on the day,” said Walter.
Colin Ackerman and Roelof van der Merwe, both born in South Africa and instrumental in that shock victory for the Dutch in Adelaide, will certainly have their team fired up and looking to expose any mental scars from that day.
“The process we follow leading into each game so far doesn’t change. We don’t disrespect anyone by thinking they are lesser opponents. Everyone is exactly the same, we want to put our best foot forward, take care of our prep and then fight really hard for those two points. There is very little emphasis on what has happened, rather it’s about what we can control in the next few days,” said Walters.
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