Afghanistan coach got angry, officials got furious, said- we will never come here

Greater Noida. Afghanistan’s team has arrived in India to play a one-off Test match against New Zealand. This match was to be played between the two teams in Greater Noida but the toss could not even take place on the first day of the first Test match. Due to poor drainage, wet outfield and pathetic facilities at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, the first day of the historic one-off Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand was called off without a single ball being bowled on Monday.

Preparations for the first Test between the two countries were affected by rain and New Zealand could not complete a single practice session properly. Apart from drizzle at night, there was no rain throughout the day on Monday, but due to lack of modern facilities, inexperienced groundsmen struggled to prepare the ground. Umpires inspected six times throughout the day. Many New Zealand players including captain Tim Southee, all-rounder Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra also came to inspect the ground. But mid-on and mid-wicket seemed to be a matter of concern while there were many patches inside the 30-yard circle as well.

Coach Jonathan Trott fumed

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott also seemed unhappy with the struggle of the ground staff. Super soppers were also put in place only after 1 pm. Finally, the first day was called off at 4 pm. The toss has been scheduled for 9 am tomorrow and the remaining four days will have 98 overs which will start at 9.30 am instead of 10 am.

Ground staff used table fans to dry the ground for Afghanistan’s training sessions. The lack of modern facilities extended beyond the ground, which affected off-pitch operations. The venue did not have proper stands for the media and adequate seating for fans.

Lack of drinking water in the media

Apart from this, there was a lack of water, electricity supply and even ladies toilets for the ‘accredited’ media which caused a lot of inconvenience to everyone. The fans also had no idea what was happening as there was no announcement system. There was poor communication and complete mismanagement between the stadium authority and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).

We will never come back here

An ACB official said, “There is so much mess, we will never come back here. The players are also unhappy with the facilities here. We had already spoken to the concerned people and the stadium people had assured us that everything will be fine with regard to media facilities.”

Although this Test is not a part of the World Test Championship, it is affiliated to the ICC. This stadium, run by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, hosted the pink ball Duleep Trophy match in 2016. However, it was banned by the BCCI in September 2017 due to match fixing during corporate matches. Since then, no match affiliated to the BCCI has been held here.

The stadium has previously served as the home ground for Afghanistan. Though the stadium does not come under the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, it will be interesting to see if BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla is able to sort out the matter.

tag: afghanistan cricket