The one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was supposed to begin Monday at Greater Noida’s Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium. However, not a single ball could be bowled till Wednesday, and the same was the case on Thursday as well due to parts – inclement weather conditions, and substandard venue management. It’s been raining in patches but heavily enough to expose the lack of preparedness at the stadium.
Insufficient covers have been leaving the outfield damp while a poor drainage system has led to the formation of heavy water puddles at multiple spots. Moreover, failed attempts to get the ground ready on time have also been raising unending questions about the skills of the ground staff.
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Even the Greater Noida Authority, the official caretaker of the venue, came into action only after the media highlighted the aforementioned loopholes. A few officials from the authority, most of them IAS officers, marked their presence on the field to inspect the situation which should ideally have been done before the match got underway.
Venue Manager Blames Afghanistan Cricket Board
The mismanagement has been starkly visible, but the venue officials aren’t ready to accept it.
Speaking to Radio channel, 93.5 Red FM, a supposed stadium manager (name wasn’t revealed during the conversation), simply denied any mismanagement from his side. He asserted that people are defaming the facility without knowing the reality as they are ‘content needy’.
“The Afghanistan team had arrived on 30 August and they played a 3-day (intra-squad) match from 1-2 September where they scored more than 300 runs. We delivered the pitch as per coach Jonathan Trott’s demand,” the concerned person told the radio channel.
“The rain is causing the major trouble which isn’t in our hands. The closest stadium to this one is Delhi (Arun Jaitley Stadium) where the downpour has resulted in the cancellation of (DPL 2024) matches. The showers are so heavy that the water penetrates the covers despite enveloping the entire ground.
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However, as reported by CricketNext earlier, the covers – on loan from DDCA – were not enough to cover the entirety of the ground and there were parts of the ground that lay open in the heavy downpour with the excess water seeping in through under the covers from the uncovered area.
“And it’s not that Afghanistan are not aware of this ground. It has been their home venue for three years and they surely have trained in rainy conditions. Had their board been unaware, they wouldn’t have approved this venue to host the game.”
To this answer, the RJ quipped, “Jitna to humari team nahi kheli, itna to inhone khela hai (the Indian cricket team has never played but the Afghans did).”
The venue manager further said, “Kuch logon ko content chahiye hotein hain, unko reality nahi jaan na (People just need content and don’t want to know the reality).”
News18 CricketNext tried decoding the venue manager’s statement on numbers, matching them with the official stats.
Statement: ‘It has been their home venue for 3 years and they surely have trained in rainy conditions’
Explanation: All 6 T20Is and 5 ODIs were played in March 2017 & 2020. During this time of the year, the rainfall in this part of India ranges between least to none.
Back in 2016, the Duleep Trophy was played in a day-night format with the pink ball, at the Greater Noida Sports Complex. That tournament featured big names like Gautam Gambhir, who is currently the Indian head coach, Dinesh Karthik, Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Cheteshwar Pujara among others.
Pujara, representing India Blue, was the top scorer with 453 runs in 3 innings whereas Kuldeep Yadav, of India Red, was the top wicket-taker with 17 scalps in 3 games, including a 5-wicket haul.
Notably, the tournament was held from 23rd August to 14 September where all 4 games were uninterrupted. While the first and last yielded results, the other two ended in a draw.
Did Afghanistan Play a Red Ball Game Before in Greater Noida?
Yes! It was the Afghanistan vs Namibia Intercontinental Cup in 2016– a four-day red-ball game, of First-Class status, played in Greater Noida in April 2016. Afghanistan won by an innings and 36 runs.
The venue manager’s statement given to the radio channel contradicts the official stats a big time. He clearly said Afghanistan ‘must have’ practiced in rainy conditions but the reality is, the Atlans have never hosted a team for a bilateral at their second home during monsoon!
It’s evident that the stadium management is not only ill-equipped to host an international Test match but also unaware of the past records of the team they have agreed to serve too. Not only the teams but the media and the spectators have suffered equally due to the mismanagement so far but the concerned authority is yet to accept their fault.
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