Lauderhill: The Indian limited overs captain MS Dhoni believed the Central Broward Regional Park outfield was good enough to resume play. Certain patchy areas near the bowlers’ run-up after a twenty minute rain forced play to be called off and resulted in a series victory for the West Indians.
Dhoni, however, was not ready to buy the wet outfield logic. "What the umpires told us, there was absence of adequate equipment over here and the condition was quite bad, that is a call that the match officials have to take. As far as I am concerned, I have played closed to 10 years of international cricket and frankly I've played under worse off conditions.” Dhoni said.
Surprisingly his counterpart Carlos Brathwaite had a completely different take on the playing conditions. “In my opinion it was unsafe, we want to play but also we want the facilities and the atmosphere to be safe for everyone’s career. I don't think it was and the umpires also made that right decision." Brathwaite said.
India at 15 for no loss looked on course to chase down the target and level the series, after their bowlers did a fine job, restricting the blistering Caribbean batting lineup to a mere 144.
This was the second time in quick succession when team India was a victim of wet outfield and dicey playing conditions. The last test at Port of Spain was called off with just 22 overs off play, costing India the No. 1 spot in Test Cricket.
Rain was not the only culprit in the wash out of the second T20 international between India and West Indies, due to ‘unavoidable technical’ problems the start was delayed by as late as fourty minutes from the scheduled time. An absesnce of a super sopper also did not help the causes.
The fact that India ended up losing the two match series as a result of this wash out, raised eyebrows of the much talked about facilities of the Lauderhill stadium.
Dhoni on the other hand had no complains about the conditions and facilities on offer. He even hinted at a longer tour in future. “"This is one place where we can come back and play lot of cricket, maybe a triangular or a four-nation ODI or T20 series. It will be better to play T20s to start off. The venue looks good. It will also give us an opportunity to spend more time in the US.”