AFG vs NZ Test: Who is responsible for India’s humiliation? Why was the Test match held in the stadium which was once banned?

A strange situation has never been seen in cricket. There are two teams who want to play a match. All the players of both the teams are on the field. Umpires and match referees are also deployed. It is not raining. The sun is shining. But the game cannot take place because the ground is wet due to the rain that happened two days ago. And all this is happening in a country which is a cricket superpower. The country whose cricket board is known for its wealth.

We are talking about the Afghanistan and New Zealand Test match, which is to be held at Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida. Since it is a Test match, the whole world is watching it. India is being made fun of all over the world because the match which was supposed to start on 9th September, could not start even till 2 pm on 10th December. Afghanistan Cricket officials are saying that they made a mistake. Now they will never come here again. But the richest board is silent. There is no reaction from any of the board officials on this. Whereas everyone knows that an official cricket match cannot be held in India without the permission of BCCI. Test match is definitely not the case. If Afghanistan has chosen India as its ‘home’ then BCCI and ICC have agreed to it. It is beyond imagination that a match which has the consent of BCCI will have such a fate.

It is not that BCCI lacks resources. The Delhi Premier League was held at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, a few kilometres away from the Greater Noida stadium where the Afghanistan-New Zealand Test match is to be held. In this league which lasted for about three weeks, the matches were held smoothly only after some time of rain. So shouldn’t the Afghanistan-New Zealand Test match have been hosted by a stadium which has adequate resources?

It is true that Afghanistan has played many matches in Greater Noida as a host between 2015 and 2017. But shouldn’t BCCI and ICC have ensured that either some other better venue was chosen for the Test match or better facilities were provided in the existing stadium of Greater Noida. It is a big question that why the Test match was held at the same stadium which was banned by BCCI a few years ago.

Everyone knows that in 2017, BCCI banned Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex. The reason is that a private league was played on this ground, which was not recognized by the board. Obviously, the first priority of the owners of this ground must have been something other than international matches. Otherwise, why would a stadium where international matches are being played host such a private league, due to which it had to face a ban. But now this matter is no longer limited to the stadium of Greater Noida. This is a question of the whole country. Today, if cricket fans are making fun of India for the fact that it cannot even organize a Test match, then what is the meaning of all the resources and wealth.

Let us tell you that Afghanistan Cricket Board and Indian Cricket Board had signed a memorandum in 2015. According to this, Afghanistan had chosen India to play its ‘home’ matches. Under this agreement, Afghanistan played matches in Greater Noida, Dehradun and Lucknow. So now when Afghanistan is not able to play its test match due to wet ground in bright sunshine, then BCCI is responsible for this. BCCI officials have been maintaining silence on such issues. Avoiding questions is an old habit of the board. But when India is being ridiculed in the world due to your mistake, then you cannot remain silent. You will have to answer.