Rain-affected crew at the Greater Noida Sports Complex© AFP

The historic Afghanistan vs New Zealand one-off Test in Greater Noida continues to paint new horror stories with every passing day. No play was possible for the first two days of the Test, despite minimal rain. Wet patches in the outfield made the ground unfit for play, prompting fans and experts to wonder if the selection of venue was right, considering the poor drainage and facilities. After a Tuesday was full of sunshine, hopes were up the match to start on Wednesday, but the weather gods poured cold water on the hopes early on Day 3. 

The toss was scheduled to take place at 9:00 AM IST but early rain meant that the toss had been delayed. But, a big announcement emerged at 9:12 AM, 18 minutes before the scheduled start of the game, that the play on the third day had also been abandoned.

While drainage at the venue had already come under question, early rain meant that the situation at the ground had become worse than on Day 2. Hence, it was practically not possible to start the match, even if rain had stopped at that moment.

Not the news we wanted to share!

Heavy overnight rain and ongoing drizzle have resulted in Day 3 of the One-Off #AFGvNZ Test being washed out. Officials will assess the conditions again tomorrow morning.#AfghanAtalan | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam pic.twitter.com/UOUR4oc2zx

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) September 11, 2024

Considering the weather, the match officials did not take long to rule out any possibility of play on Wednesday.

“Afghanistan versus New Zealand Day 3 is called off due to persistent rains. The match will commence with 98 overs from tomorrow if the skies get clear,” said the Afghanistan Cricket Board in a release.

Afghanistan, who don’t get to play top teams often, are the hosts of the game. It was reported that the ACB were given a total of three options by the BCCI to host the match but they decided to proceed with Greater Noida, a decision that the board would probably be regretting now. 

On Day 2, the ground staff even deployed portable fans, hoping to dry the wet patches. Dry grass was cut from the practice area of the ground, placed in place of wet patches, hoping for a quicker resolution, but all efforts went in vain.

Match referee Javagal Srinath‘s report on the preparedness of Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports complex in Greater Noida will go a long way in deciding the fate of the venue which is under the scanner after the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand failed to get underway on successive days. For once, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which often becomes the favourite whipping boy, isn’t responsible for the mess. The ‘home board’ is the Afghanistan Cricket Board, which selected a familiar and cost-effective venue despite being offered the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and Green Park in Kanpur as options.

The BCCI isn’t involved in this Test match. It was the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s choice and the Greater Noida Authority was supposed to provide them with international standard facilities.

The BCCI hasn’t hosted any of its domestic games here since 2019 (Vijay Hazare Trophy) and is unlikely to host one in near or distant future in these substandard conditions, if sources are to be believed.

The ICC, for one, would follow the standard protocol for any given international venue where the match referee’s report decide the further course of action.

Not a single ball could be bowled in the first two days and with a steady downpour on Tuesday evening reducing the chances of play on third day, Srinath will have to assess the drainage conditions of the ground, which are not at par with other international venues.

There was bright sunshine across two days but one heavy spell of shower, in the preceding evening, was enough to play spoilsport.

The absence of adequate super sopper or enough ground cover to protect the outfield, or for that matter the lack of adequately trained ground staff, there are problems aplenty with this venue, which isn’t directly under the aegis of BCCI.

As per the ICC ‘Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process’ that came into effect in November 2023, “After each Match, the Match Referee (Srinath in this case) will complete a Pitch and Outfield Report Form and send it to the ICC Senior Cricket Operations Manager.” The ‘Pitch and Outfield Report Form’ will be compiled using the guidelines for rating pitches and outfields and, where required, will include comments on the pitch and outfield from the captains of the two teams who played and the umpires who officiated in the relevant match.

It will be interesting to note the kind of comments given by New Zealand skipper Tim Southee.

Within 14 days of receipt, the ICC senior cricket operations manager will forward the ‘Pitch and Outfield Report Form’ to the home board, with a copy to the visiting board.

The ICC senior cricket operations manager will advise the home board on any demerit points that have been imposed on a host venue.

According to ICC clause, “If the conditions are such that the Match Referee has cause to rate the pitch and/or outfield Unsatisfactory or Unfit, a corresponding number of Demerit Points will be imposed upon the Host Venue as outlined in the guidelines for rating pitches and outfields.” Demerit Points will remain active for a rolling five-year period.

If the Greater Noida venue accumulates a total of six (6) or more demerit points, its accreditation to host international matches will be suspended for a period of 12 months.

However, if one goes through ICC rules, for a single Test match, if both pitch and outfield are deemed “unfit” by match referee, then it would get three demerit points and it would take one more such game to get the venue suspended.

The onus will thus be on the Afghanistan Cricket Board to see whether they would want to continue hosting matches at such a venue, which could get suspended in near future due to its poor infrastructure.

A facelift of gigantic proportions can’t be done by the local authorities and they would need the BCCI’s deep pockets to make it at least a palatable domestic venue.

Using traditional tarpaulin to protect outfield, electric fans to dry wet patches, loaning ground cover from one state unit and super sopper from the other while deploying untrained ground staff, the Greater Noida Authority encountered colossal failure in not being able to get second day’s play underway in the one off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand. For the second successive day, not a single ball could be bowled at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports complex in Greater Noida putting the venue under scanner and making it an international embarrassment.

The game, the first between the two nations, was scheduled to begin on Monday but no play was possible as the umpires cited “players safety” as a concern.

While there was no rain throughout the day, there was a downpour for about an hour on Monday evening, affecting the start of play on Tuesday, which was scheduled to commence half an hour earlier than the original start time of 10 am.

While the skies remained clear on Tuesday, the field couldn’t even be readied for a curtailed day’s play despite best efforts.

The mid-on and midwicket areas remained a cause of concern as the groundsmen were bringing in dry sections of grass from the practice area to “transplant” it to the mid wicket area.

Additionally, three table fans were used to dry patches of grass on the offside as the groundsmen continued to work all day.

Officials from the Greater Noida Authority, under which the stadium falls, were also in attendance, supervising the work.

Umpires conducted three inspections before calling off play on the second day.

According to the stadium officials, there are five super soppers — two automatic and three manual. However, all throughout only two have been used, that too sparingly.

If sources are to be believed, the Greater Noida Authority had requested Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) for a couple of super soppers and they sent it from their Meerut Stadium for logistical purposes.

Similarly during day time, traditional marriage shamiyana (tent) was used to cover the outfield and in the evening when heavy rains started, they used tarpaulin as DDCA authorities were rushing their outfield cover from Kotla.

If this wasn’t enough, the Greater Noida Authority didn’t have enough trained groundstaff and apparently used their untrained labour for the work. While the pitch area remained pristine, the outfield has been the issue on both days.

The Greater Noida venue could not host the 1st two days of Afghanistan vs NZ match.© AFP

Visuals from Greater Noida Stadium© X (Twitter)

Afghanistan vs New Zealand, One-Off Test Day 2, Live Updates© AFP

NZ captain Tim Southee and Afg captain Hashmatullah Shahidi.© AFP

Afghanistan will take on New Zealand in a historic one-off Test later this month in India. The match will be played from September 9 to 13 in Greater Noida, and star India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed his excitement ahead of the encounter. Afghanistan on Friday announced a 16-man squad for the one-off Test against the Kiwis. Ashwin was quick to highlight the presence of two young batters — Riaz Hassan and Bahir Shah — who have score truckloads of runs in Afghanistan’s domestic cricket.

Taking to social media platform X, Ashwin suggested that the two could inspire a revolution as far as Test cricket in Afghanistan in concerned. The veteran cricketer likened Riaz and Bahir to former India stars Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, especially with how the two played a key role in India’s rise in Test cricket during the early 2000s.

“This one off Test will be fun to watch. We know Afghanistan produce insane talent but the one area of solidity and stability they need is from their batting department. They have Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat  shah oozing class but not much else to follow, and that is why I am excited to see what RIAZ HASSAN and BAHIR SHAH have to offer,” Ashwin wrote in a post.

This one off Test will be fun to watch.

We know Afghanistan produce insane talent but the one area of solidity and stability they need is from their batting department.

They have Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat shah oozing class but not much else to follow, and that is why I am… pic.twitter.com/e6REqHdMsI

— Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) September 7, 2024

“Both of them are promising and their first class averages are in excess of 55. The first signs of India’s strong future came via @YUVSTRONG12 and @MohammadKaif in the 2000’s as they came through the U-19’s, that is why these 2 players could give us a sneak peek into what Afghanistan may go on to accomplish in the next decade or so,” he added in the post.

Ahead of the one-off Test, Afghanistan batter Rahmat Shah said his team’s “past experience” of playing in India will give them an edge over New Zealand.

“We are also accustomed with the weather and pitch conditions of India, so we certainly have an edge,” Shah told Cricbuzz.

Shah, the leading run-scorer for Afghanistan in Tests and ODIs, wanted to give the Kiwis, the inaugural WTC champions, a tough time.

“We will try to give them a tough time. They have won the ICC Test Championship and we tried to have the best of preparations and we are looking forward to the challenge that is lying ahead,” he said.

(With PTI Inputs)

File photo of Ibrahim Zadran.© AFP