GREATER NOIDA: The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) voiced its frustration over the lack of facilities here at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium, scheduled to host their one-off Test against New Zealand.
The first-ever Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was originally scheduled to commence on Monday but the toss is yet to take place due to the wet outfield and persistent rain here.
The opening day of the Test was also called off due to earlier rain creating a wet outfield. The umpires made several inspections but to no avail.
On Tuesday, the ground staff made desperate attempts to make the venue ready for the action, including the usage of electric fans to dry out the pitch.
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The groundstaff dragged out a tarpaulin to cover areas of the pitch in anticipation of more rain, while others held electric fans over some of the worst wet patches.
They also dug up a wet patch — in the cover-point and mid-wicket region — and filled it with dry soil and fresh turf.
According to the Indian media, Afghanistan expressed their frustration over the lack of facilities and vowed not to play at the Greater Noida stadium ever again.
Furthermore, a source close to the ACB confirmed that their future home matches will be moved to Lucknow, owing to the mismanagement at this venue.
“There are no facilities. We will never come here again. Our preference will be Lucknow. There are no basic facilities. There is complete mismanagement at the venue. Even the players are not happy with training facilities and everything,” ACB official said.
READ: Afghanistan captain demands ‘one good home venue’ in India