 "File image of the Afghanistan cricket team. PTI")
The Afghanistan cricket team expressed unhappiness over the state of facilities at the Noida Sports Complex where they are training ahead of their one-off Test against New Zealand.
The Afghans face the Black Caps for the first time ever in a red-ball fixture, with the match scheduled to take place at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground in Greater Noida near New Delhi starting 9 September.
However, the Afghan Atalan are far from satisfied with the practice facilities that have been provided to them in the build-up to what is one of their biggest cricketing fixtures of all time.
The Afghans currently are undergoing a one-week preparatory camp at the sports complex that is located in the National Capital Region (NCR). And according to reports, the practice pitch was flooded and the ground staff had to resort to using table fans in a desperate attempt to get it dry. The ground staff additionally did not have any super soppers or covers for that matter.
“Boys, we should have brought our swim gear. No way we are going to play here. Good place to swim,” Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi was quoted as saying according to The Indian Express.
Shahidi further expressed concern over how the visiting New Zealand team would react to such sub-par facilities, adding that the Afghans had seen worse.
“We have trained in much poorer conditions, but what would you say to the New Zealand team management,” the 29-year-old top-order batter added.
Due to security concerns back home following years of war as well as Taliban’s recent return to power, Afghanistan play all of their international fixtures away from home. While they initially played their ‘home fixtures’ in the UAE, they would later be granted permission to establish a base in India by the BCCI.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAfghanistan have since then played home games at Dehradun’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium besides the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground.