The historic one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand has turned out to be a nightmare. Amidst heavy rain at Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium, Greater Noida, the poor drainage system and the lack of resources have made headlines. As a result, the Day 3’s play was called off on September 11 morning only. The groundstaff could not cover the entire ground to prevent it from incessant rain on September 10 night.
So far, the coin toss has not taken place at the stadium. On September 11 morning, the BlackCaps posted a photo showing the sorry state of affairs at the venue. The entire ground could not be covered to prevent overnight rain to cause further damage. It is likely that the game will be abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Drama on Day 2
Earlier, Sports Tak had reported that covers have been rented from a local tent house. On September 10, the teams did not even bother to leave the hotel and come to the ground. The groudstaff was trying to fix a wet patch. They dig it up and tried to replace it with artificial grass which took nearly eight hours. There are other wet patches on the ground as well making it dangerous and unfit for the international players. DDCA and UPCA loaned ground covers and supper sopper to cover the entire ground but the conditions did not get better.
ACB manager’s clarification
Following the controversies, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) International cricket manager Menhaj Raaz clarified that Greater Noida was their choice of venue. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had given them a few options including Kanpur and Bengaluru for the historic Test.
"The venue has always been Afghanistan's home venue. If we talk about back from 2016, we have been playing games here," Raaz said.
Raaz said a recee was done prior to the tour. He blamed unfavourable weather conditions for the chaos.
"It is because of the rain. Yesterday also, it rained. We had a three-day game here with one of the local teams which went well. We didn't face any issue. But when the rain started and all of this happened."
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