Afghanistan vs New Zealand: Test Cricket returns to olden age as first day's play abandoned

Even as the crowd gathered at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium in Greater Noida in a large number on Monday morning, some coming out of enthusiasm and others bussed in by a company amid sharp sunshine and muggy weather, the field of play was sans players as the one-off Test between New Zealand and Afghanistan got off to the worst possible start with the first day’s play abandoned without a ball bowled due to wet outfield.

In an age when Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium has a state-of-the-art SubAir draining system which can extract 10,000 litres of water per minute, watching a cricket match day get abandoned due to previous day’s rain sounded like cricket from decades ago.

The Ferozeshah Kotla ground of the Indian capital’s Arun Jaitley Stadium that very recently hosted the Delhi Premier League, a local state T20 league, saw gallons of water drained out during the course of a few matches allowing cricket to happen.

This is Test cricket, and needs to be given more respect.

This is Afghanistan’s ninth Test since they got the Test status back in 2017, and the players were looking forward to it. New Zealand wanted this badly as a warm-up for the five Tests they play in the sub-continent over the next couple of months.

As per the information with your reporter, the Afghanistan Cricket Board opted to host this Test in India instead of UAE, which has been their home for the past few years, due to the unbearable heat at this time of the year in the desert emirate.

Their priority in India was Lucknow and Dehradun. Both the grounds were, however, unavailable. Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BRSABV) Ekana Cricket Stadium is currently hosting the UPT20 League whereas the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Dehradun will host the Uttarakhand T20 League from September 15.

The Afghans then were given the options of Kanpur and Bengaluru apparently by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The Karnataka state capital was beyond budget for the ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) and Kanpur was an untested venue for them as they were more keen on playing closer to the Capital, where they had landed.

The Greater Noida authority, it has been learnt, had assured the Afghans of the best facilities. However, what they probably didn’t take into account was the lack of proper drainage at this time of the year, the back-end of the monsoon season.

As many as five inspections took place throughout the day. From the one at 10 am, we moved to inspections at 11.30 am, 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm. At 3 pm, information came that another inspection was scheduled at 4.30 pm. That didn’t happen as play was called off at around 4 pm.

Mubashshir, a fan dressed in an Afghan jersey, who had come all the way from Lajpat Nagar’s Afghan colony was frustrated.

“I have been waiting for the match to begin since 10 in the morning. Now, I am heading back,” he said as he walked to the metro station, almost a 15 to 20-minute walk from the stadium. 

The worry is that if Greater Noida sees any further rain overnight, the second day could also be abandoned.

“Not the news we were waiting for as the first day of the One-Off #AFGvNZ Test Match has been called off due to a wet outfield. [emoji: sad face]. Looking forward to a drier and brighter 2nd day tomorrow. [emoji: thumbs up],” said a statement from the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

“Tomorrow’s toss will be done at 9:00 AM while the game to start at 9:30 AM local time. As per match officials decision, 98 overs game is considered for the remaining days,” added the statement.

Cricket, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Greater Noida, abandoned, first day, wet outfield