Craving to play Test cricket more often than not, the Afghanistan cricket team will look to challenge New Zealand in the one-off Test match, starting Monday in Greater Noida. But only if the weather permits. Ever since Hashmatullah Shahidi & Co have arrived at their second home, they have been busy playing hide and seek with the rain more than they have practiced for the Test match. The teams have been accommodated in a 5-star facility close to the stadium so as to cut down the travelling time. But it seems like they are boarding the team bus only to take a round of the venue and come back as the wet outfield won’t allow them to train in a fully-fledged manner.
As of Sunday, while Afghanistan had their pre-match training before New Zealand, the Kiwis, who are the visitors in this fixture, couldn’t practice due to inclement weather. The hosts Afghanistan arrived a week in advance, but they have managed to play 3 intra-squad matches – all interrupted by rain.
Addressing the press on the eve of the Test match, Shahidi rued his team’s lack of preparation but sounded rather hopeful that rain would stay away during the game
“Rain is not in our control. We can only pray that it doesn’t happen during the game,” Shahidi said.
Is Greater Noida Stadium Capable of Hosting a Test?
Operational since 2013, Greater Noida’s Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Cricket Stadium hosted the first-ever First-class game in 2015 – between Uttar Pradesh and Baroda. The following year, it hosted all four Duleep Trophy matches which were day-night affairs, witnessing the introduction of pink ball for the first time in India. The same year, in 2016, the ICC deemed the venue fit for international matches and was later allotted as the home ground to Afghanistan.
Since then, as many as five ODIs and six T20Is have been played here till 2020. The Afghans are back after four years to play a first-ever Test match but don’t seem happy with the conditions.
As CricketNext reported last month, the ground staff, led by pitch curator Amit Sharma, were working relentlessly to keep the playing conditions to the required standards. But a day prior to the start of play, rain put them at work again. In fact, CricketNext observed that the venue doesn’t have enough covers to protect the entire ground in case of rain, leaving the areas near the boundary line open.
Usually, the Indian venues can tackle such situations in different capacities. Some have excellent drainage systems where the ground gets ready within an hour after the rain stops while in other cases, the time taken to make the field playable varies. But what’s up with Greater Noida, it’s yet to be seen.
CricketNext made repeated efforts to reach out to the venue management but couldn’t succeed. On the other hand, curator Sharma this time denied saying anything specific on the matter.
Hoping to get a better venue in the future, Shahidi said restricting to one ground doesn’t benefit a team which is trying to flourish in the longest format.
“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,” Shahidi said.
Urge to Play More Test
Shahidi asserted that Afghanistan need more Test cricket to improve as a team. As they gear up to face New Zealand for the first time in the longest format, the skipper wishes that his team gets to play against bigger teams in the future and more often.
“If you look at Test cricket, we are new in this format. We need more experience. If we get more chances on a regular basis, we will improve a lot. As a team and as a country, we are great people and we accept challenges. In this game and also in the future, if we get more chances we will improve and show that we are the best team,” he said.
“In six years, nine games is not more. If we get more chances with big teams, we will improve. It’s a good opportunity for us to play against New Zealand, given their rankings. Hopefully, the ACB will try harder to give us opportunities against bigger teams in the future,” Shahidi said.
Comments
0 comment