Several slushy pockets in the Greater Noida Sports Complex ground along with drainage that has been overwhelmed by heavy rainfall have prevented the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand from taking off. For the second straight day, there was no play possible, not even a toss, and there is growing fear that the entire game might be wiped out.
On Tuesday, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) acknowledged that the situation was grim, saying it was doing everything possible to start the Test, but the wet weather was proving to be insurmountable. “If it rains like this, no venue is going to be able to host a game,” Menhajuddin Raz, ACB’s international cricket manager said.
There has been no rain in the daytime though, leading to questions about why the match has not been able to start. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the outfield is not sand-based, which would’ve been better at soaking up the moisture and also quicker when it comes to drying. The drainage system has also come under significant strain from the intense rainfall that has disrupted Delhi and neigbhouring regions like Greater Noida, which is about two hours from the nation’s capital.
Only a small part of the ground could be protected against this bad weather – the main square, which houses the playing surface and the practice pitches and the 30-yard circle. It is understood that a lot of pockets on the outfield and some even in and around the inner circle – midwicket, mid-off and cover – are slippery. An official present at the venue said the top layer began moving underfoot making it risky and unfit for play.
Afghanistan’s opening batter Ibrahim Zadran slipped during practice and twisted his ankle, which has ruled him out of the Test. While the ACB sent out a media statement about the injury, the official believes it was a result of the outfield’s deterioration.
Being the host, the responsibility lies with ACB to ensure the venue is match fit. In a statement the ACB said that the BCCI has been assisting by providing “additional machinery” to make “conditions ideal” for the match to start. It is understood that at the behest of the Indian board, Ankit Dutta, the curator at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi travelled to Greater Noida on Tuesday. A super sopper was also sent to the venue to help with the drying. Dutta is understood to have told the ground officials as well as the ACB that he saw no immediate remedy.
In the past several days both Afghanistan and New Zealand have struggled to have a proper net session. On Tuesday, New Zealand did some light training in the main square, but the fast bowlers were unable to come off a full run-up. The official said that while the super sopper was welcome it wouldn’t be able to bind the loose top layer which can only happen with more sunshine.
This Test is not part of the ICC’s World Test Championship. The ICC, too, doesn’t have to get involved in this game other than appointing match officials. However, questions are now being asked about whether there was due diligence done to check if the venue was equipped to withstand bad weather. Raz stressed that they were.
“Look, the venue is an international standard venue,” he said. “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.”
Raz said that the BCCI had given Afghanistan Bengaluru and Kanpur as other venue options, but they chose Greater Noida. This ground last hosted international cricket in 2020. India have never used it for any of 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 was specifically asked if they considered the drainage facilities while finalising the venue. “I would say yes,” he replied, “because that’s always something which plays its role when it comes to the venue. And we have got many of the facilities here that are required to drain such rain. If you witnessed the rain last night and then the level of work the groundstaff has put together… they had to get water pumps inside to get the water outside of the stadium. It’s only a few patches that are stopping the game. Apart from that, it doesn’t seem to be a big problem.”
The Greater Noida stadium comes under the control of the local administration, and not the BCCI or the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association. Raz said the ACB had full cooperation from the local administration.
“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.”
The ACB’s commercial manager, Akbar Mohammad Paktian, said that they even 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.”
Raz hoped if there was no further rain, the match could start on time on Wednesday. However, just a few minutes after that, it started pelting down again, putting the third day’s play in doubt as well.
Daya Sagar is a sub-editor at the ESPNcricinfo Hindi desk. Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo
