GREATER NOIDA: It was a mere formality. Heavy downpour had washed out the third and fourth day of the Afghanistan-New Zealand one-off Test at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex on Wednesday and Thursday.
There was rain from early morning on the fifth day too, which led the two umpires to pull the plug at 8.45 am on Friday. This was the earliest the umpires had taken the decision to call off among all the five days.
This is the first time that a Test has been abandoned without any play at a venue in India, and the eighth instance in the history of Test cricket where a Test has been called off without a ball being bowled.
The first two days were called off on account of a “wet outfield and damp patches in the playing area”, despite bright sunshine throughout. A sub-par drainage, lack of trained and adequate ground staff and insufficient equipment to handle contingency situations caused a massive furore on the preparedness of the venue.
The remaining three days were then washed out due to persistent rain.
Afghanistan next play three ODIs against South Africa in the UAE beginning Sept 18, while New Zealand travel to Sri Lanka for a two-Test series — also starting Sept 18 — before returning to India for a three-Test series against the Indian team in Oct.
