Greater Noida venue may have hosted its last int’l game

New Delhi: Match referee Javagal Srinath’s report on the preparedness of Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports complex in Greater Noida will go a long way in deciding the fate of the venue which is under the scanner after the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand failed to get underway on successive days.

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. There was bright sunshine across two days but one heavy spell of shower, in the preceding evening, was enough to play spoilsport.

The absence of adequate super sopper or enough ground cover to protect the outfield, or for that matter the lack of adequately trained ground staff, there are problems aplenty with this venue, which isn’t directly under the aegis of BCCI.