In an extremely unfortunate event that is part of history The only match was between Afghanistan and New Zealand at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium, Greater Noida. Not even a single ball could be scored due to rain.
The Test match was the eighth one to be abandoned in history and the match was declared as such when there was no possibility to initiate the play for the third consecutive day because of the heavy rainfall.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced the decision in a statement on the fifth and last day due to persistent rain. While both sides were hopeful of a possible resumption, the officials saw fit to abandon proceedings once an inspection was carried out early in the morning that showed the outfield conditions made it impossible for there to be any further play on Saturday.
Day 1-2 |
Initial Disruptions |
Despite bright sunshine, the outfield was too wet, causing the umpires to defer play. |
Day 3-5 |
Persistent Rain |
Heavy rainfall continued, leading to unplayable conditions. Umpires declared the match abandoned on Day 5. |
Final Decision |
Match Abandoned |
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced the abandonment due to continuous rain and poor ground conditions. |
With a draw between Afghanistan and New Zealand, fans were really excited. The match was adjourned due to the constant rain and poor ground conditions in Greater Noida.
The play never resumed after the interval. A wet outfield hit the first two days of the match despite bright sunshine over that period.
Ground staff struggled to prepare the outfield and umpires deferred play, claiming unsafe playing conditions for the players at the stadium’s facilities. It was raining those three days, and the game never started.
After five days of rain, any play had been left looking highly unlikely by day five, at which point the officials finally called time and declared it abandoned without a ball bowled.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said in their statement: “While it is the case that there has been considerable rain in Bengaluru this year, to the point of previously affecting T20 play, a cancellation as such on the schedule was completely avoidable, leading to a sense of disappointment amongst cricket fans and cricketers themselves who would have turned up at VCA stadium later tonight otherwise.”
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One More Historic Test Cricket Abandonment
Image Credit: Financial Express
This is only the eighth instance when a Test match has failed to begin in the long history of this form of cricket. A certain other New Zealand versus India game in Dunedin, New Zealand, was also washed out. For the first time, a Test match at an Indian venue has been canceled without a ball being bowled.
The last two days confirmed the news that was feared, with an entire Test match lost to rain and unplayable conditions, a rarity in the history of cricket, even more deluged than ever now thanks to severities of coincidence by the weather gods.
It is difficult to do anything about rain but the lack of adequate facilities at Greater Noida has also been under fire.
Badly drained grounds with no equipment only compounded the issue. Some of the outfield was waterlogged because of insufficient ground covers, super-soppers, and poorly trained ground staff, but most importantly, due to the heavy 120 mm rainfall in just a few hours. All of these deficiencies led the authorities to call off the match despite short intervals when there was no rain.
Stadium preparations face Setback
The washout has proven to be a severe setback for the fact-finding mission that it is an international Test match as it only exposed the stadium with respect to preparedness and infrastructure.
The venue had rain throughout the week in Greater Noida and even though the match was scheduled well in advance, turned out to be poorly equipped to deal with any wet conditions only because of how extensive it rained.
Recent reports explain how the 30-yard circle was not covered properly, which ended up leaving a spot on the field directly exposed to conditions.
While there was sunshine to start the opening two days, play was not possible as the umpires judged the outfield too wet. This incident exposed the lack of facilities and preparedness at cricket venues in India for hosting international games.
The lack of proper ground facilities did not allow this game to take place and it certainly must have been joyless for fans and, more importantly, for the teams.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board has tried to move the match to another venue and schedule, as has New Zealand Cricket. Although none of the runners were thankfully harmed, unfortunately, this event has been added to another long list of problems that appear during outdoor sports events that are so demanding regarding weather and infrastructure.
This Test not taking place highlights the importance for cricket venues to be equipped to deal with extreme weather conditions and host matches smoothly. Afghanistan and New Zealand cricket fans will have to wait just a little longer before they see their countries face off again in Test play.
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References:
financialexpress.com
BBC.com