Greater Noida venue may have hosted its last international game
Greater Noida, Sep 10: Using traditional tarpaulin to protect outfield, electric fans to dry wet patches, loaning ground cover from one state unit and super sopper from the other while deploying untrained ground staff, the Greater Noida Authority encountered colossal failure in not being able to get second day’s play underway in the one off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand. For the second successive day, not a single ball could be bowled at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports complex here putting the venue under scanner and making it an international embarrassment.
The game, the first between the two nations, was scheduled to begin on Monday but no play was possible as the umpires cited “players safety” as a concern.
While there was no rain throughout the day, there was a downpour for about an hour on Monday evening, affecting the start of play on Tuesday, which was scheduled to commence half an hour earlier than the original start time of 10 am.
While the skies remained clear on Tuesday, the field couldn’t even be readied for a curtailed day’s play despite best efforts.
The mid-on and midwicket areas remained a cause of concern as the groundsmen were bringing in dry sections of grass from the practice area to “transplant” it to the mid wicket area.
Additionally, three table fans were used to dry patches of grass on the offside as the groundsmen continued to work all day.
Officials from the Greater Noida Authority, under which the stadium falls, were also in attendance, supervising the work.
Umpires conducted three inspections before calling off play on the second day.
According to the stadium officials, there are five super soppers – two automatic and three manual. However, all throughout only two have been used, that too sparingly.
If sources are to be believed, the Greater Noida Authority had requested Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) for a couple of super soppers and they send it from their Meerut Stadium for logistical purposes.
Similarly during day time, traditional marriage shamiyana (tent) was used to cover the outfield and in the evening when heavy rains started, they used tarpaulin as DDCA authorities were rushing their outfield cover from Kotla.
If this wasn’t enough, the Greater Noida Authority didn’t have enough trained groundstaff and apparently used their untrained labour for the work.
While the pitch area remained pristine, the outfield has been the issue on both days.
The BCCI had given the Afghanistan Cricket Board a few options including Kanpur, Bengaluru and Greater Noida.
However, the ACB opted for Greater Noida for logistical reasons.
“The venue has always been Afghanistan’s home venue. If we talk about back from 2016, we have been playing games here,” ACB International cricket manager Menhaj Raaz said.
The area is receiving incessant rainfall for the past two weeks, which the ACB claim has played spoilsport.
“It is because of the rain. Yesterday also, it rained. We had a three-day game here with one of the local teams which went well. We didn’t face any issue. But when the rain started and all of this happened.” Afghanistan Cricket Board has hosted 11 white-ball international games here before. The other Indian ground where they have hosted games is Dehradun.
“We had conducted a recce four to six months back, and even the visiting team had done their recce. So there was no issue” Raaz added that ACB considered moving the match to a different venue but the monsoon made it impossible.
“We tried working on a solution to shift the game and they said that because of the same rain, you will not be able to, you know, actually prepare the venue for you in the coming next 24 hours.”
All eyes on Srinath
Match referee Javagal Srinath’s report on the preparedness of Greater Noida venue will go a long way in deciding the fate of the venue.
For once, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which often becomes the favourite whipping boy, isn’t responsible for the mess. The ‘home board’ is the Afghanistan Cricket Board, which selected a familiar and cost-effective venue despite being offered the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and Green Park in Kanpur as options.
The BCCI isn’t involved in this Test match. It was the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s choice and the Greater Noida Authority was supposed to provide them with international standard facilities.
The BCCI hasn’t hosted any of its domestic games here since 2019 (Vijay Hazare Trophy) and is unlikely to host one in near or distant future in these substandard conditions, if sources are to be believed.
The ICC, for one, would follow the standard protocol for any given international venue where the match referee’s report decide the further course of action.
Not a single ball could be bowled in the first two days and with a steady downpour on Tuesday evening reducing the chances of play on third day, Srinath will have to assess the drainage conditions of the ground, which are not at par with other international venues. (PTI)