Afghanistan vs New Zealand: Players don't turn up at Greater Noida venue, Day 3 also abandoned due to rain

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Afghanistan vs New Zealand: Players did not even turn up at the venue as Day 3 of the historic Afghanistan versus New Zealand Test match was also called off due to incessant rain and poor ground condition in Greater Noida on Wednesday, September 11.

Notably, even the toss for the one off Test match hasn't been conducted, and Day 3 was abandoned even before the scheduled start time of 9:30 AM IST. The venue has flaked international criticism for its poor facility, and if there is no play in the last two days, the Test match will be only the eighth in history to finish without a ball being bowled.

"Afghanistan versus New Zealand Day 3 is called off due to persistent rains. The match will commence with 98 overs from tomorrow if the skies get clear," said the Afghanistan Cricket Board in a release.

The BCCI was also criticised for allocating Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex (Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, Greater Noida) as the venue for the first-ever Test match between the two sides.

However, ACB themselves later revealed that it was their choice to play at the venue for logistical reasons. The BCCI had given the Afghanistan Cricket Board a few options including Kanpur, Bengaluru and Greater Noida.

"The venue has always been Afghanistan's home venue. If we talk about back from 2016, we have been playing games here," ACB International cricket manager Menhaj Raaz said.

"It is because of the rain. Yesterday also, it rained. We had a three-day game here with one of the local teams which went well. We didn't face any issue. But when the rain started and all of this happened."

Afghanistan Cricket Board has hosted 11 white-ball international games here before. The other Indian ground where they have hosted games is Dehradun.

"We had conducted a recce four to six months back, and even the visiting team had done their recce. So there was no issue," Raaz added.

He further stated that ACB considered moving the match to a different venue but the monsoon made it impossible.

"We tried working on a solution to shift the game and they said that because of the same rain, you will not be able to, you know, actually prepare the venue for you in the coming next 24 hours."

Covers brought from Arun Jaitley Stadium, super soppers sent by UPCA

The Greater Noida stadium authorities and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) brought covers from the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday after Day 2 was abandoned. The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) also sent a couple of super soppers to get the ground, but heavy rains in the region over the last two weeks made all the efforts futile.

(With PTI Inputs)