Poor Facilities Halt Historic Afghanistan Vs New Zealand Test Match (image-twitter/ACBofficials)
The opening day of the historic one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand in Greater Noida was abandoned due to poor ground conditions. It was a bright and sunny day in the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathak Cricket Stadium on Monday morning and the players were all set to play from both sides.
However, instead of showcasing their cricketing skills on the first day, the players had to spend their time on the field and be involved in some other activities.
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The reason for the game to be dropped is that the venue suffered inadequate drainage, a waterlogged outfield, and substandard facilities, which hindered the ground staff’s efforts to prepare the field despite the absence of rain throughout Monday.
The toss has now been rescheduled for 9 am IST on Tuesday.
The stadium, managed by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) rather than the state cricket association, lacks the advanced equipment and resources typical of other international venues in India.
The stadium has been banned by BCCI in September 2017 due to match-fixing during corporate matches.
The Umpires on Monday had conducted multiple inspections, and New Zealand players including captain Tim Southee and all-rounders Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, assessed the pitch conditions.
The groundsmen’s struggle has to be also highlighted as the Super soppers were only deployed only after 1:00 PM.
The day’s match was called off at 4:00 PM. The lack of modern facilities in the stadium was beyond the playing field, affecting media operations and fan experience. The venue also lacked a proper media stand, adequate seating arrangements, and basic amenities such as water, power supply, and access to a female washroom.
Making the situation even worse, the public announcement system on the field was absent which left the fans uninformed about the circumstance.
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Despite the ground serving as Afghanistan’s home ground in the past, no BCCI-affiliated match has been hosted at the venue.
Before the Test match, the Afghanistan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi had appealed to the BCCI to arrange “a good home venue” for the team.
However, the stadium does not fall under the jurisdiction of the UP Cricket Association, so it is unclear whether the BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla will intervene to address the issue.
