Dhoni, Brathwaite Differed In Their Opinions On Playing Condition

Both skippers had different opinions about the wet outfield which let to the cancellation of the 2nd T20 match.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and West Indies skipper Carlos Brathwaite differed in their opinion about the quality of the ground at Central Broward Regional Park after the second T20 International was called off due to a wet outfield at Lauder-hill, Florida.

After dismissing West Indies for 143, India were 15 for no loss in two overs when a 15-minute thunderstorm left huge puddles on some sections of the field, including the bowler’s run-up at the pavilion end of the ground, forcing the officials to call off the match.

There were about two or three (areas of concern). Looking from the pavilion, the run-ups on that side and just beside the sponsor’s (painted ad on field) plus probably mid-on and then there was a little patch on the (west) side looking from the pavilion again. 

Carlos Brathwaite, Captain, West Indies

“So in my opinion it was unsafe, and even if the run-ups were good and a guy hits a ball in the outfield in a fast-paced T20 game and he chases behind it and pulls something, that could be the end of a guy’s career. “So not only will we want to play, we want the facilities and the atmosphere to be as safe for everyone’s career as possible. In my opinion, I don’t think it was and the umpires also made that decision as well.”

However, Dhoni said he has played in worse conditions during his career, citing the example of 2011 tour of England.

What the umpires told us, there was not adequate equipment over here and the condition of it was quite bad, so because the conditions wouldn’t improve we won’t be able to play a game. That’s a call that the match officials have to make and as far as I’m concerned I’ve played close to 10 years of international cricket and frankly I’ve played under worse conditions.

“If I remember in 2011, the whole ODI series that we played in England, it was literally playing under the rain. I feel definitely the conditions ... ultimately the umpires decide so they decide you play, we play. If they say okay it was unfit for play, it was unfit for play.”

It was on this (west) side where me and Bravo were standing but it was far away from all the run-ups of the bowlers. There is no Shoaib Akhtar in their team so I don’t think it was a big concern.

West Indies won the 2 match T-20 series against India 1-0.