MS Dhoni, Carlos Brathwaite differ on US ground

M.S. 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 because of wet outfield here.

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 section 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,” Brathwaite said.

“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,” Dhoni said.