Afghanistan team disappointed by inadequate facilities at Noida venue

The Afghanistan national cricket team has expressed displeasure with the facilities at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium in India’s Greater Noida state after a rain-hit one-off Test match against New Zealand.

The opening day on 9 September was washed out due to a wet pitch and persistent rain and the match continued to be suspended on the second day for the same reasons.

Despite previous efforts to ensure readiness, the team has raised issues with the stadium’s facilities regarding what they see as mismanagement and inadequate amenities at the venue.

Reports say that the team has officially announced that they will not be returning to this stadium for future matches.

A source from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed that future matches will be shifted to Lucknow, citing lack of basic facilities as the main reason.

“There are no facilities. We will never come here again. Our preference will be Lucknow,” said an ACB official, adding that even the training facilities were substandard.

A team of about 20-25 ground staff, including 15 outsourced workers, struggled with the difficult conditions, hampered by insufficient resources.

Despite the fact that there were five super dryers (two automatic and three manual), the drying process remained slow and inefficient.

The ground was covered with three 30-yard sheets and five larger 80×60 covers, although reports indicated that some of these had been rented from a nearby marquee provider, highlighting poor planning and a lack of proper preparation.

The stadium’s infrastructure has come under scrutiny, particularly due to the absence of an effective drainage system. While rain delays are common in cricket, most modern venues are equipped to handle such interruptions quickly.

This marks a setback for Afghanistan’s 10th Test match in its history, where they were hoping to build on their recent success in shorter formats, including victory over New Zealand in the T20 World Cup.

Under captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan have won two out of nine Test matches, with wins against Bangladesh and Ireland.

Ahead of the match, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi Shahidi stressed the need for a stable home base, expressing hopes for improved conditions. “India is our home and we hope to have a good venue to host games here,” he said.

Hasmatullah also noted that Afghanistan’s strong first-class records reflected their comfort playing on the pitches, adding that a more permanent home could boost their performance.