New Delhi: Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi on Thursday reacted to missing out on action in the ongoing one-off Test against New Zealand in India. The fourth successive day was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain showers.
The wet outfield at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium in Greater Noida led to inaction of cricket for the first two days of the only Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand. Rain forecast further predicts that the fifth day will unlikely see any action from the game.
“We had a preparation camp before the Test, and we even played a three-day game against a local team. That helped us get a fair idea about the surface and the conditions, but I would say, we have been unlucky that we couldn’t play (because of the rains),” Shahidi told Sportstar.
“I was excited for this game as this was an opportunity for us to see where we stand in terms of red-ball cricket. In Tests, New Zealand is among the top-five teams, so it was a huge opportunity. But the rain and the ground conditions are beyond our control.
“We have two more Tests this year against Zimbabwe and hopefully against Bangladesh, if it works out, and we need to ensure that we make the most of those opportunities,” he added.
Not the news we wanted to share! 😕
Heavy overnight rain and ongoing drizzle have resulted in Day 3 of the One-Off #AFGvNZ Test being washed out. Officials will assess the conditions again tomorrow morning.#AfghanAtalan | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam pic.twitter.com/UOUR4oc2zx
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) September 11, 2024
Regardless of the fifth day’s action takes place, the expected result of this insipid match will have no result.
“The decision about the start of the game tomorrow morning at 8:00 will be made after the stadium assessment,” the ACB said in a statement.
When was the last time a Test match was abandoned without a ball being bowled?
Afghanistan are hosts of the one-off Test against New Zealand and it was ACB who opted Greater Noida as the venue for this Test match. A lot of eyebrows have been raised with some also holding the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) equally accountable for the poor management of the outfield, though the Indian cricket board banned the venue back in September 2017.
If the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand tend to get washed out completely then it will be the eighth instance in the history of Test cricket for a match abandoned without a ball being bowled. The last time it happened was in the match between New Zealand and India at Dunedin in 1998.
The wet outfield at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium in Greater Noida led to inaction of cricket for the first two days of the only Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand. Rain forecast further predicts that the fifth day will unlikely see any action from the game. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
