For those of you wondering, why was Afghanistan allotted Greater Noida as the venue for the Test match vs New Zealand, the cat is finally of the bag. Now, it turns out that Afghanistan had themselves shortlisted the Greater Noida, out of the available options, that included Kanpur, and Bengaluru as well. In an interaction with SportStar, ACB official Mehnazuddin Raz spoke about the entire controversy surrounding the AFG vs NZ match.
Raz said, “Kanpur, Bengaluru and Greater Noida were the three venues offered by the BCCI, and we chose Greater Noida because it’s closer to Delhi and connectivity from Kabul is better.” He added, “This was the best venue for us in terms of logistics, and that’s why Greater Noida was chosen.”
AFG vs NZ at Greater Noida
The match was supposed to start on Monday, but rain and wet outfield meant that the entire day was washed out. No play was possible on the second day of the Test as well, as wet patches had emerged all over the ground. The Greater Noida groundsmen tried grafting a dry patch from the nets area to the main ground, and also tried to dry wet patches using fans. But nothing could make match start.
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If that was not enough, the caterers for the match also caused major embarrassment for the ground. One of the team members was seen washing the utensils in the bathroom. Earlier, another ACB official had expressed displeasure over inadequate facilities at the ground, and vowed that the team would never return there for a match.
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