After the test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand did not start for the second consecutive day, the future of Greater Noida’s Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex will largely depend on the report of match referee Javagal Srinath. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is often blamed for such shortcomings in the stadium, but this time the entire responsibility for the mess lies with the host Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). The BCCI had offered Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium and Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium as options to the Afghanistan Cricket Board, but the Afghanistan Cricket Board chose this venue, giving preference to issues such as the familiarity of its players with this venue and low cost.
Not hosted since 2019
The BCCI has no role in this Test match. The venue was entirely the choice of the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the Greater Noida Authority had to provide them with international level facilities. According to sources, the BCCI has not hosted any of its home matches here since 2019 (Vijay Hazare Trophy). Given the substandard conditions here, the chances of hosting any match in the near or distant future are slim to none. The International Cricket Council (ICC) will follow the standard protocol for any international venue where the match referee’s report will decide on further action. Not a single ball could be bowled on the first two days and after heavy rain on Tuesday evening, the chances of play on the third day have also become extremely low.
What comment will captain Saudi give?
Srinath will have to assess the wet outfield of the ground, where the drainage is not as good as other international venues. The stadium also lacks a super sopper to soak up water from the ground along with adequate cover to protect the outfield from rain. The lack of adequately trained ground staff has further aggravated the problems of this venue. According to the ICC ‘Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Procedure’, which came into effect in November 2023, ‘After each match, the match referee (in this case Srinath) will send the pitch and outfield report form to the manager of the ICC Senior Cricket Operator. The ‘Pitch and Outfield Report Form’ also contains the comments of the umpires and captains of both the teams along with the match referee. It will be interesting to see what kind of comments New Zealand captain Tim Southee gives.
Demerit points are effective for 5 years
Within 14 days of receiving this report, the ICC Senior Cricket Director’s Manager sends it to the host board and informs about the demerit points imposed on the stadium. According to ICC article, “If the Match Referee has reason to rate the pitch and/or outfield as unsatisfactory or unfit, demerit points will be awarded as per the guidelines for rating pitches at the host venue.” These demerit points remain effective for five years. If the Greater Noida venue gets six or more demerit points, it will be suspended from hosting international matches for 12 months.
Will ACB change its mind?
According to ICC rules, however, a maximum of three demerit points can be awarded for a match and another such match would be needed for the venue to be suspended. It will then be up to the Afghanistan Cricket Board to see if they would like to continue hosting matches at a venue that could be suspended in the near future due to its poor infrastructure. The local authorities also cannot make major changes to the ground without the help of the BCCI.
