“The BCCI offered us three venues” – Afghanistan cricket manager breaks silence amid one-off Test against New Zealand as first three days washed out
Afghanistan international cricket manager Menhajuddin Raz has broken his silence amid questions over the venue for the one-off Test against New Zealand at Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, Uttar Pradesh. Menhajuddin said the BCCI offered them three venues to pick from as their home ground and ACB picked Noida due to easy flight accessibility. The other two venues were in Kanpur and Bengaluru.
The reaction came after the first two days of the first-ever Test between New Zealand and Afghanistan were abandoned due to wet outfield despite no rain on Days 1 and 2. Day 3 was also called off as rain returned.
Menhajuddin Raz told the reporters (via NDTV):
“The BCCI offered us three venues – Kanpur, Bengaluru, and this one. We chose to play at Greater Noida as it was most convenient in terms of logistics. It was a two-hour drive from Delhi airport.”
“The venue has always been Afghanistan's home venue. If we talk about back from 2016, we have been playing games here,” he added.
Afghanistan have played 11 white-ball international games in Noida.
“We had conducted a recce four to six months back” – Menhajuddin Raz on Afghanistan & New Zealand's one-off Test
Menhajuddin Raz further revealed that the venue for the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was picked after a proper assessment. On this, he said (via NDTV):
"We had conducted a recce four to six months back, and even the visiting team had done their recce. So, there was no issue. 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."
According to Accuweather, Noida is likely to receive rain on the remaining two days of the Test match.
“Mostly cloudy with occasional rain and a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Variable clouds with a thunderstorm in spots," as per Accuweather.
Afghanistan will next be in action against South Africa in a T20I series, which will be played in Sharjah. The first of the three-match series will be played on September 18.