The opening day of the historic one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was called off on Monday due to unacceptable conditions at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex. The match was canceled without a single ball being bowled, as the venue faced issues with subpar drainage, a soggy outfield, and inadequate facilities. Rain had impacted preparations leading up to the Test, which was the first between the two teams, leaving New Zealand unable to complete a practice session.
Despite no further rain throughout Monday, the lack of modern amenities left the ground staff struggling with field preparation. The sack of sawdust ended up seeing more use than the players, with umpires conducting six inspections during the day. New Zealand players, including captain Tim Southee and all-rounders Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, also evaluated the conditions.
Concerns were particularly raised about the mid-on and mid-wicket areas, as well as patches inside the 30-yard circle. At one point, bright sunshine offered hope that play might commence, but those expectations were dashed when Kane Williamson approached the pitch around 2 p.m. IST.
Afghanistan’s coach, Jonathan Trott, was visibly displeased as the groundsmen struggled, with the Super Soppers coming into action only after 1 p.m. The day’s play was eventually abandoned at 4 p.m. The toss has been rescheduled for 9 a.m. tomorrow, with the remaining four days set to feature 98 overs each, starting at 9:30 a.m. instead of 10 a.m.
Prior to the Test, the ground staff had used table fans to dry the pitch for Afghanistan’s training sessions. The issues extended beyond the field, with a lack of a proper media stand, inadequate seating for fans, and significant inconveniences for accredited media, including insufficient water, power supply, and female washroom facilities. Fans were also left uninformed due to the absence of a public announcement system.
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There was evident miscommunication and mismanagement between the stadium authorities and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). An ACB official expressed frustration, saying, “This is a huge mess; we are never coming back here. The players are also unhappy with the facilities.” He added that assurances from the stadium authorities regarding media facilities had not been met.
Although the Test is not part of the World Test Championship, it is an ICC-affiliated tournament. The stadium, managed by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, had previously hosted a pink ball Duleep Trophy match in 2016 but was banned by the BCCI in September 2017 due to match-fixing during corporate matches. No BCCI-affiliated matches have been held there since.
Afghanistan had used the stadium as its home ground in the past, but the facilities have reportedly not improved. Prior to the Test, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had requested the BCCI and ACB to arrange a “good home venue,” emphasizing that India is like a second home and that better venues would benefit the team.
While the stadium is not managed by the UP Cricket Association, it remains to be seen whether BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla will address these issues effectively.
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