New delhi, Feb. 11 -- With the ICC Champions Trophy less than 10 days away, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is already under-fire after New Zealand cricketer Rachin Ravindra suffered a nasty injury during their ODI match against Pakistan in the tri-series on Saturday.
Ravindra, who was fielding at deep square leg, suffered a bloody blow to his head while attempting a catch off Khushdil Shah. However, in the glare of floodlights, he lost the ball and it struck flush on his head. With blood gushing out, Ravindra had to be taken off.
The incident happened at the newly-renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, giving rise to divided opinions among some of the big names of Pakistan's cricketing fraternity even as the PCB incurred backlash for facilities from several fans.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif held PCB responsible for the gruesome injury.
"There is an issue in the LED light. It has more glare and sometimes it is hard to spot the ball when it is coming flat to you," Latif said.
On the other hand, former skipper Salman Butt defended the PCB, putting the blame on Ravindra himself. He also feels the talks around the ICC event to be shifted to another country are also ridiculous.
"There's no point trying to make people understand when they don't want to. It's irrelevant. These are some of the latest LED lights that have been installed, so these are fine. When New Zealand players hit sixes off deliveries bowled at close to 150 kph, were the lights not working then? A player who was standing 70 metres away failed to take the catch because of his
misjudgment. He is a fine fielder, but perhaps his leg slipped, and he got hurt," Butt said.
Meanwhile, the injury has cast doubts on Ravindra's participation in the tri-series final.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.