New Delhi: After inaction on the first day, the second day of the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was called off too that raised questions about the venue.
As touring teams refuse to play in Afghanistan over security reasons, they are forced to play their home games in overseas venues, including at the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sport Complex in Greater Noida, where the NZ match is being staged.
But poor drainage leading to wet outfield forced abandonment of the opening day’s action on Monday. On Tuesday too, overnight rain dampened the conditions to the extent that several wet patches forced the umpires to call off the play again.
“Day 2 of the one-off #AFGvNZ Test has officially been called off. Despite multiple efforts to dry the surface, the outfield remained unfit for play,” the Afghanistan Cricket Board said on social media platform X.
The inexperienced ground staff tried to use standing fans and chunks of green patches from the practice area to dry up the surface of the ground but match officials deemed the conditions unfit for play.
The ground staff also used tarpaulin to cover up parts of the pitch to prevent it from getting wet. They also dug a wet area in the cover and mid-wicket zone and filled it with dry soil and new turf to make it game ready.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board has hosted several T2OIs and ODIs at the venue but had played their Tests at Lucknow and Dehradun, when offered to play their by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Since those two venues were pre-occupied, the ACB chose the Greater Noida ground, where absence of basic facilities and amenities for media and spectators was raised on Monday.
ACB officials were disappointed by the facilities while New Zealand are yet to comment on the matter.
Wet outfied forced the second day of the Afghanistan vs New Zealand one-off Test in Greater Noida to be called off. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
