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The historical one-off Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand, which was scheduled to start from September 9 at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, has been marred with controversy after continuous washout on three days of the match. However, rain hasn’t been the main factor for the three days being called off, but poor drainage facility at the stadium along with some other reasons has garnered unwanted attention, boiling to be a big controversy.
However, the Test debut continues to await, things haven’t gone as per the plan as there has been no play possible on three days of the solitary Test. Although, the city saw heavy rainfall on the eve of the first-ever Test, the first two days saw bright sunshine during the scheduled timing of play. Yet, the ground could not host the match due to wet outfield, making it unsafe.
The playing surface came into question with star Afghanistan batter, Ibrahim Zadran getting injured and being ruled out of the one-off Test, several pictures surfaced with the organisers taking extreme measures like using an electric fan to dry the surface. Not only this, the groundstaff also was seen digging wet patches and replacing it with fresh grass patches. Amid all this, several questions have been encountered and here in this article, we’ll look at the best possible way to impart as much information which is available.
Why Afghanistan opted to play one-off Test match against New Zealand in India?
It is to be noted that part of the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex is maintained by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA). It does not come under the aegis of the BCCI. However, the decision to play the one-off Test in India came by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) following the troubled political conditions. Afghanistan, who are serving as the home side in this Test, opted Greater Noida while UAE was their preferred venue initially.
Menhajuddin Naz, a ACB official claimed that BCCI offered them a choice between Greater Noida, Kanpur and Bengaluru, but it was solely Afghanistan’s choice to play at this venue. Moreover, he stated that Greater Noida was picked as it is closer to Delhi, which makes it easier on the logistics level.
What exactly went wrong in the Afghanistan vs New Zealand one-off Test?
The one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand has been among controversy for no gametime in the opening three days. While the stadium in Greater Noida saw rain come into play on the eve of the Test match, problems escalated thereafter due to the poor drainage system at the venue. As per a report published by Cricbuzz, the stadium has a clay-based outfield. Moreover, the sub-standard infrastructure added to the vows following the heavy rainfall. The stadium also lacks enough covers to cover the ground and the outfield, exposing the ground to excessive water.
As a result, after the first two days were called off, Day 3 of the historic Test was also called off early.
Is BCCI responsible for the poor facility at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida?
The answer to whether BCCI is responsible for the poor amenities available at the stadium is not known, in 2017, the ground was banned by the Indian cricket board for hosting private leagues. Moreover, the stadium was also amid allegations of match-fixing and thus no BCCI affiliated matches have been hosted at this venue since then. Furthermore, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) also does not have a major say on this. The ground is solely owned by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, and they oversee the operational matter regarding the same.
Although, in the ongoing one-off Test, the UPCA did extend some help by sending out the super sopper at the request of Afghanistan Cricket Board. A report from the PTI also added that the Delhi District and Cricket Association (DDCA) provided covers to help them during this situation.
