KANPUR: Earlier this month, a one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was abandoned without a ball being bowled at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, Greater Noida. The decision came on the fourth day as wet outfield prevented any action on the field. It raised serious questions over the preparedness of the venue.
The Greater Noida Authority, which comes under the Uttar Pradesh government, owns the stadium and was supposed to provide all facilities to Afghanistan, the hosts. Ironically another venue in the state, the iconic Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, owned by the sports directorate of the UP government, seems to be going the same way.
Stakes here, however, are high. Unlike the Afghanistan-New Zealand match, the ongoing contest between India and Bangladesh is part of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle and anything other than a win for the hosts could affect their chances of making it to the final for the third consecutive time.
After the delayed start on the opening day on Friday, the second and third day's play of the second Test was called off without a ball being bowled. While heavy rain on Friday night and intermittent drizzle on Saturday forced match officials to call off the play, Sunday witnessed no such rain and even the sun came out. However, wet outfield saw play being called off at 2PM after three inspections beginning at 10AM. The match officials found certain areas in the outfield like mid-on, mid-off and the bowler's run-up from the media box end damp to start the play.
Around 15000 spectators turned up on Sunday morning and waited patiently for more than six hours for the action to begin but it turned out to be a heartbreak for them. Visibly upset, they blamed authorities concerned for the mess saying the ground should have better facilities to deal with such situations.
One of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) officials, however, said the match officials could have started the game at least in the third session. "They did three inspections but did not tell our ground staff the problems. Had they had any issues with the wet outfield, they should have told that specifically to the staff and the same would have been addressed. The ground was covered completely and the match could have proceeded but it's unfortunate that fans have to head back without witnessing any on field action," a UPCA official said on the condition of anonymity.
After three days, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Co are 107/3 in the first innings of the Test after being invited to bat by India captain Rohit Sharma. There are still two days left but calling off play on two consecutive days has reduced chances of a result drastically.
Only a few days before the match, the Public Works Department (PWD) declared Balcony C of the stadium unsafe. The UPCA later claimed they addressed the concerns raised by the PWD and made the stand operational with a reduction in the seating capacity. There were also concerns on the drainage system as unlike other modern venues, where water is drained out quickly enough to resume the proceedings, Green Park, constructed in 1945, is devoid of such arrangements.
The venue is in the vicinity of the river Ganges and is in the heart of the city surrounded by houses, shops and offices from all the sides. The approach road to the venue is also small leading to traffic congestion on match days. Besides, the facility becomes home to animals like monkeys and dogs on non-match days.
Despite calling a super sopper from Lucknow on Saturday taking their tally to three, a lot was dependent on the sun to dry up the wet areas. But even as it emerged finally on Sunday afternoon, it was too late.