‘Afghanistan stadiums have better facilities than this one’: Controversy over state of Greater Noida Sports Complex Stadium

The second day of the Afghanistan versus New Zealand one-off Test match was washed out without a ball being bowled at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Stadium, which is also known as the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex. What’s ironical is that there was not a single drop of rain during the match hours on both days, but poor drainage facilities at the grounds had led to play not being possible on what was supposed to be the first two days of the Test match.

The Indian Express had previously reported last week about the poor drainage, soggy outfields, and flooded practice pitch at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Stadium. The Indian Express report had also pointed out that ground staff was trying to dry out the pitches with table fans.

The ground’s conditions had come under scrutiny even before the first day of the match.

“India is our home, and when we host teams, other nations have played more cricket here. Hopefully, we will get a good venue here in India and if we restrict ourselves to one venue, it will be effective for us. If you see our records in first-class, it’s good because we play at our home ground. We know those conditions. Hopefully, in the future, there will be a time when the teams will travel to Afghanistan and our average will be higher.
Hopefully, the ACB and the BCCI will get us a good venue,” Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had said during the pre-match press conference.

Afghanistan not impressed by Greater Noida Stadium

Shahidi was clearly not impressed with the facility. “The facility is the same the way it was four years ago. Everything is the same, nothing has changed,” he had also told reporters.

This is the third venue where Afghanistan are hosting a Test match in India. Prior to this, they hosted Ireland and West Indies in 2019. The Ireland game was played in Dehradun, while the West Indies match was played at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

An Afghanistan Cricket Board member had told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity that the Greater Noida Sports Complex Stadium was not their first choice for this match.

“You won’t believe me but the stadia in Afghanistan have better facilities than this one. We have improved our infrastructure in the past few years but here as Shahidi has mentioned nothing has changed,” the ACB official had told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity a day before the Test was to begin.

He added: “Our first choice was the Lucknow stadium and the second was Dehradun. Our requests were rejected by the BCCI and we were told that both the states are hosting their respective T20 leagues. This was the only ground available and we had no other choice left.”

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