South African team has had a great start to its ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign. While the Proteas thrashed Sri Lanka by 102 runs in their tournament opener in Delhi, they followed it with a crushing 134-run victory over Australia in Lucknow.

The Temba Bavuma-led side is now gearing up to face Netherlands at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday (October 17).

On the eve of the match, Bavuma addressed a press conference, where he acknowledged the beauty of the venue.

“It’s one of the beautiful grounds to play at around the world. In terms of what to expect tomorrow, we are not expecting rain, that’s what we were told. But I guess, we will see what happens, if it effects our combinations… Probably, not too much. Obviously, we will have a look at the wickets and that would be the biggest deciding factor,” Bavuma said in the pre-match presser.

The outfield of the HPCA Stadium has become a topic of debate ever since the start of the World Cup. During the Bangladesh versus Afghanistan match at this venue on October 7, cricketers from both sides slipped on a patchy outfield on multiple occasions while chasing the ball.

In fact, the patchy appearance and sandy base contributed to Mujeeb Ur Rahman's knee digging into the surface when diving to save a boundary.

The outfield was rated "average" by the match officials but it was cleared to host the England-Bangladesh fixture.

However, the South African skipper dismissed the concerns regarding the outfield, saying that it isn’t as bad as it looks.

“The field is a bit patchy. We did our fielding practice last night. To be honest, it didn’t play as bad as it really looked. We have spoken about trying to be more cautious, maybe changing your diving technique. I don’t know how easy it is to do in the heat of the momentum. The guys just need to be a bit more cautious and attentive. Like I said, we fielded yesterday and it wasn’t too bad,” Bavuma stated.

(CricketNext Inputs)