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After an Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) official criticised the Greater Noida Sports Stadium for poor facilities and sub-par drainage system, the cricketing venue once again hogged limelight for all wrong reasons. Notably, the venue is hosting a one-off Test match between Afghanistan vs New Zealand which has been impacted by wet outfield so far. Not even a single ball was bowled on the first two days of play (September 9 & 10). However, on both days, the weather remained clear and not a single drop of rain on both match days.
At the time when the venue is facing flak from Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, the pictures of catering staff using washroom tap water has created another controversy. Shahidi, who is leading Afghanistan’s Test side, expressed his anger and disappointment over the lack of drainage facilities at the venue. In the pre-match conference, Hashmatullah Shahidi had said, “India is our home, and when we host teams, other nations have played more cricket here. Hopefully, we will get a good venue here in India and if we restrict ourselves to one venue, it will be effective for us.”
Netizens react to viral pictures of catering staff washing utensils in toilet
The pictures have been going viral on Twitter and fans have given their two cents on it. One fan wrote “Has anyone approached or are going to approach the BCCI for the issue?” Another fan wrote “Stadium to hai nahi bhai, only ground hai. At least basic facilities should’ve been provided.. by UPCA, it’s their stadium afterall”.
Cricket grounds in Afghanistan have better facilities than Greater Noida: ACB Official
Before the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was set to begin, an Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said that the Greater Noida Sports Complex was not their first choice to play their first Test against New Zealand. For the unversed, Afghanistan and New Zealand have never played each other in the red-ball format.
“You won’t believe me but the stadiums in Afghanistan have better facilities than this one. We have improved our infrastructure in the past few years but here as Shahidi has mentioned nothing has changed,” the ACB official had told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity a day before the Test was to begin.
