‘Reality of Australian grounds’: Netherlands’ batter attempts to hit four, ball surprisingly stops before boundary rope

T20 World Cup 2022: A viral video shared by the International Cricket Council (ICC) has become the latest reason for cricket fans’ angst. The clip shows Dutch batter Vikramjit Singh hit a lofted shot over the mid-wicket which looks bound for a four with no fielder in the outfield. However, the ball surprisingly comes to a deadstop right before reaching the boundary. 

Fans were up in arms and slammed Australian cricket grounds, claiming they had slow outfields not just due to rains but also overgrown grass. Grounds in Australia are also big, some fans reminded. However, for most the issue was unanimous. 

“Reality of Australian grounds,” one fan said. “What kind of outfield this is lol,” another commented on the video. Other comments termed the it as “sub-par ground”, “dead outfield” and “worst outfield”

“Why the pitches are slow even though the tournament has not started till now,” one Instagram user questioned. One fan said that the same thing happened with Eoin Morgan during the 2019 Cricket World Cup, which was in England and Wales. The video has been going viral and attracting comments, many of which are lambasting the outfield. 

Meanwhile, the qualifying stages of the T20 World Cup 2022 are ongoing where fans have already witnessed two upsets within the first two days. Minnows Namibia beat Sri Lanka in the tournament opener and then former champions West Indies suffered an embarrassing defeat against Scotland on Day 2. The clip is from Netherlands’ match against Namibia on Tuesday (October 18).

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