After two days of utter chaos and no play at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has finally answered the questions that were raised over the conduct of the first-ever Test match against New Zealand. Not a single ball could be bowled on the second day of the game with the match officials calling it off due to a wet outfield.
While there was no rain on the opening day, a heavy downpour on Monday evening affected the start of play on the following day, scheduled to commence 30 minutes prior to the usual start time of 10 am. The ground staff kept making efforts which eventually failed to convince the official to call for the toss.
The steps taken by the venue management to tackle the situation on both days hinted at their incapability to host Test cricket. However, the Afghanistan team officials defended the groundsmen and venue management and blamed the ‘Act of God’.
Addressing the media after the second day was called off, ACB’s International Cricket Manager Menhajuddin Raz said their plans to conduct the one-off Test were majorly marred by rain and not by any other factor.
“You’ve seen it. They are trying every way to get the ground ready. They’re trying the fans. They’re trying the soppers. They’re trying to actually remove the turf and replace it. They’re trying every solution, and we really appreciate them, really admire them. But like I said, it’s the time it takes, it takes everywhere,” Raz told the media.
“The venue has always been in Afghanistan to venue. We have hosted Zimbabwe and Ireland here. It’s something which has recently been in discussions with BCCI and we have got a couple of options and one was the Greater Noida. We had the option of Kanpur and Bangalore.
“So, this was like one of the best logistically approached venues for us, which is just around 2-hour drive from Delhi airport. That’s the only reason which has been picked as the hosting option,” Raz added.
