The umpires conducted three inspections before calling off play on the second day.
According to stadium officials, there are five super soppers — two automatic and three manual. However, only two have been used throughout, and that too sparingly.
If sources are to be believed, the Greater Noida Authority had requested the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) for a couple of super soppers, which were sent from their Meerut Stadium for logistical purposes.
Similarly, during the day, traditional marriage shamiyanas (tents) were used to cover the outfield, and in the evening, when heavy rains started, they used tarpaulin as DDCA authorities rushed their outfield cover from Kotla.
If this wasn’t enough, the Greater Noida Authority didn’t have enough trained ground staff and apparently used untrained labour for the work.
While the pitch area remained pristine, the outfield was 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 has been receiving incessant rainfall for the past two weeks, which the ACB claims 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, all of this happened.”
The 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.
The 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.”
