The Greater Noida Authority has come underfire as the one-off Test match which was scheduled between Afghanistan and New Zealand has also been postponed for the third consecutive day. The match which was scheduled to commence on Monday at Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex has not yet been played because rains are pouring daily along with wet outfield conditions. Questions regarding the preparedness of the venue have arisen.
The BCCI Further has offered Afghanistan Cricket Board ACB different venues including Kanpur, Bengaluru, and Greater Noida. However, ACB For these reasons, Greater Noida was selected as a venue, given its distance from Delhi and its relative ease of access from Kabul.
It’s the persistent rains over the last two weeks that have tormented the ground on a terrible scale. The umpires had said that the reason for delaying the game today was the ‘Wet Outfield’ and ‘Player Safety’ — no comments on this condition of the ground.’: “Even this venue has been more specifically Afghanistan’s second home. Looking back from 2016, we have been engaged in this activity since this location has been relied on for hosting many matches for ACB National cricket manager Menhajuddin Naz, speaking to PTI on Tuesday, said logistical factors influenced their decision greatly regardless of the harsh weather recently experienced.
The ACB has played 11 white-ball internationals in this ground and in Dehradun. A venue check carried out months back showed no such obstacles.
ACB’s commercial head, Akbar Muhammad, clarified that there were considerations of taking this match to some other venue, but it was not possible because of the incessant rain which would not support even a proper setup.
“Muhammad said, ‘They repeatedly played trying to find a solution with which they would be able to move the game, but rain made it very clear that even in the next 24 hours there was no way another adequate venue could be prepared.'”
The postponement of the match has attracted international attention and also the crying need for investigating whether it is wise to stage high-profile cricket in Greater Noida or not.
