 "Afghanistan vs New Zealand Day 3 called off. What has prevented the Test from happening?")
The Afghanistan vs New Zealand one-off Test was due to get underway on 9 September but three days later, there has been no cricket. There has been no toss either. The Test, held at Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, has been affected by rain, poor facilities and miserable drainage system.
Day 3 of the Test, on Wednesday (11 September), was abandoned even before the teams could make their way to the venue built on the outskirts of New Delhi.
After overnight rain, with some parts of the field not covered, there were puddles near the boundary. The teams chose to stay back in their hotels with the knowledge of poor drainage facilities meaning more time lost.
Welcome to 3rd day of play that is already abandoned!#AFGvNZ pic.twitter.com/8nBc749jBK
— Daya sagar (@sagarqinare) September 11, 2024
The last time the first three days of a Test were called off without any action was in 2008 when Bangladesh hosted New Zealand in Mirpur.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhat is preventing the Test from taking place?
“If it rains like this, no venue is going to be able to host a game,” Menhajuddin Raz, Afghanistan Cricket Board’s (ACB) international cricket manager said on Tuesday, as per ESPNCricinfo.
Unlike Monday and Wednesday morning, Greater Noida witnessed no rain on Tuesday, the second day of the Test, and yet no cricket was possible.
As per reports, the outfield is not sand-based, which would have soaked up the moisture quicker and more effectively to dry up the wet patches.
The drainage system has also come under strain after intense rainfall in the Delhi-NCR region.
The small venue, which is not affiliated with the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA), could only afford to cover a small part of the ground. Only the main square could be protected against the bad weather which encompasses the playing surface, practice pitches and the 30-yard circle.
The issues, however, were with the pockets on the outfield, midwicket, mid-off and cover which were found to be slippery.
So much so that Afghanistan’s opener Ibrahim Zadran slipped during practice and twisted his ankle, which ruled him out of the Test.
As the host, the responsibility of ensuring good facilities lies with ACB. In a statement the ACB said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been assisting by providing “additional machinery” to make “conditions ideal” for the match.
ESPNCricnfo reported that at the request of the Indian board, Ankit Dutta, the curator at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi travelled to Greater Noida. A super sopper was also sent to help with the drying process. Dutta reportedly told the ground officials and ACB that an immediate fix was not possible.
Even before the Test was scheduled to begin, teams have struggled to get a proper net session. On Tuesday (3 September), New Zealand did some light training, but the seamers were unable to come off a full run-up.
Fortunately for New Zealand and Afghanistan, the Test is not part of the ICC’s World Test Championship so it will not affect their rankings.
The ICC, too, doesn’t have to get involved besides appointing match officials. However, questions are being raised over the venue’s capabilities of holding a Test and whether any due diligence was done by the ACB.
“Look, the venue is an international standard venue,” said Raz. “It has hosted around 12 (11) games internationally. It’s not like it’s a new venue. It’s just the rain which has affected everything so much. And that’s the only reason we’re not having a game on day two.
“As per the international standard, like at least three-four months, even six months before, you make a recce of the venue. And then, you make sure everything is normal. It’s not only us [the home team] who does this recce. It’s the visiting team as well - their team and their player association team do the recce, too. Everything was so good.
“The whole issue arose because of the heavy rain which has happened over the last two weeks or so. And then, last night, I don’t know if you guys were there or not, but I’ve got a couple of videos which I’ve recorded on my phone. And it wasn’t looking good at all. Even if it had been any other venue, they would have struggled to get it back on time, ready for a game of cricket.”
Did Afghanistan have other venue options?
Raz clarified that the BCCI had given Afghanistan three venue options - Greater Noida, Bengaluru and Kanpur, but they chose Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex due to its proximity from Delhi and easier access from Kabul. The ground last hosted an international contest in 2020. India, though, have never used it for their fixtures.
“This venue has always been Afghanistan’s home venue,” he said. “We have been playing games here since 2016 [2017] and have hosted Ireland here. Logistically also this was the most feasible venue for us. You get a flight maybe from Kabul and from Dubai to Delhi, and then two hours of drive from there.
“We heard from the local experts that the monsoon finishes here in mid-August and then you don’t get any rain. So, it’s not that something has gone wrong [from our side]. It’s just from above.”
Raz clarified that they had the support of the local administration that runs and maintains the venue.
“They have been working hard to make things happen. Look, we had a three-day game here with one of the local teams which went well. We didn’t face any issues. But no one can control the rain. It is not the groundstaff’s fault, it is no one’s fault.”
ACB’s commercial manager, Akbar Mohammad Paktian, stated they tried shifting the Test to another venue.
“Even we called up the nearby other venues,” he said. “We tried working on a solution to shift the game, shift the event. And they said that because of the same rain, they will not be able to prepare the venue in the coming 24 hours.”
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