New Delhi: The wait for action in the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand continued after play was called off for the third successive day at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium in Greater Noida. Amidst heavy rains, the stadium authority has come under scanner due to poor facilities and disastrous management that have led to the abandonment of the play on three straight days without a ball being bowled.
Overnight and morning rains resulted in the abandonment of Day 3 on September 11 morning. The groundstaff reportedly could not cover the entire ground to prevent it from rain on Tuesday (September 10) night.
Due to washouts on three successive days, the coin toss has not taken place at the stadium. On Wednesday morning, New Zealand’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle posted a photo showing the sorry state of affairs at the venue which is managed by the Greater Noida Authority.
More rain overnight in Noida. Likely further delays to the start of the Test on day three #AFGvNZ pic.twitter.com/U8qvM5mS6n
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) September 11, 2024
Considering the overnight rain and the overcast weather in the morning, the match officials made a prompt decision to rule out any possibility of play on Wednesday.
“Afghanistan versus New Zealand Day 3 is called off due to persistent rains. The match will commence with 98 overs from tomorrow if the skies get clear,” said the Afghanistan Cricket Board in a release.
Facilities under scanner
The Greater Noida Stadium has come under heavy criticism due to the poor facilities at the venue that led to the abandonment of play on the first two days despite no rain. The ground staff failed to dry out the wet patches on the ground due to poor drainage systems and outdated facilities at the stadium. Remarkably, table fans were used to make the ground match-ready.
Afghanistan Cricket Board, the home board for the match, rejected the chance to host the game at the home ground of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and Kanpur’s Green Park.
The venue was banned by the BCCI in September 2017 due to match-fixing.
The Greater Noida Stadium has come under heavy criticism due to the poor facilities at the venue that led to the abandonment of play on the third successive day. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
