There have been many disagreeable statements against BCCI. In particular, an official from ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) criticized the present state of repair in Greater Noida Stadium. Repeatedly, there have been complaints that BCCI failed to accept the various alternative venues. And, those venues were requested by ACB.
The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has actively arranged Afghanistan venues to prepare and host matches outside their disturbed nation. The agitated nation includes — the northern Indian cities of Lucknow and Dehradun.
BCCI is Not be Held Responsible For Greater Noida Mess
BCCI is not at all involved or responsible in any way for this Test match. On the other hand, most of the fans and general spectators of cricket have been slamming BCCI for their gestures of hospitality by not presenting an international-quality stadium to Afghanistan. They wanted to host their Test, but it was not fulfilled properly, and they hardly knew that India’s apex cricket board had nothing to do with this mess.
Subhayan Chakraborty, the correspondent of Revsports, has been posting many tweets to explain that it was the ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) that asked Greater Noida as the venue. Also, he explained that UPCA (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) had tried calling them to assist Noida Sports Authority, but they didn’t answer those calls.
In addition to that, Abhishek Tripathi, the leading sports journalist, took it to his X account to explain the reason behind selecting Greater Noida as the Test venue.
UPCA calls were Declined
According to the recent reports obtained, it is said that the Afghanistan Cricket Board hasn’t kept the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association in touch with them.
The BCCI had offered 3 venues as options to Afghanistan for hosting the New Zealand one-off test. These 3 venues included — Bengaluru, Kanpur, and Noida out of which Afghanistan had opted for Greater Noida as the venue.
Mehnazuddin Raz, an official of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, further explained the reason for deciding why Noida was chosen as the best. He said that regarding the logistics, the distance was much closer to New Delhi, which has better access to transportation compared to Kabul.
Afghanistan takes a vow to never come back to Noida
Recently, the management of Afghanistan Cricket made it clear that they will never step into Noida to play a game because of the poor facilities.
Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground had faced many disturbing events that occurred. And it is because, despite sunny weather conditions, the 2nd day of the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was called off.
However, the ground staff have been trying to dry the water-logged surface of the outfield, but it didn’t show the results. On the other hand, not even a single ball could be bowled, and that was the situation in the stadium. Due to this scenario, an official of the Afghanistan Cricket Board became very offended and called the entire event a “mess”. The Afghanis further vowed to never come back to the Noida venue to play.
BCCI Bans Greater Noida Stadium for Hosting the International Matches
Ever since 2017, Afghanistan has been playing matches at the Greater Noida stadium. Moreover, they are the only international team that has been hosting matches in that venue. However, the BCCI has invalidated and blocked the permit or legal rights of Greater Noida Stadium for hosting any India games after they privately conducted a league, and that too without the board’s authorization.
More Demerit Points? The Greater Noida might lose accreditation
According to the ICC rules, the senior cricket operation manager must submit the PORF (Pitch and Outfield Report Form) within 14 days to the home board (BCCI — Board of Cricket Council in India) and visiting board (ACB — Afghanistan Cricket Board).
Also, if there are any demerit points imposed on the hosting venue, then the ICC senior cricket operations manager will have to report to the home board.
Here is what the ICC policy and clause says: “If the Match Referee finds a valid reason to declare the pitch as ‘Unsatisfactory’ or ‘Unfit’, then a specific amount of Demerit Points shall be imposed on the Host Venue.”
These Demerit Points will continue to be active for 5 years. In the case of the Greater Noida venue, if it receives a total of 6 demerit points, then it is said that the stadium would lose its accreditation for hosting further international matches. In addition to that, the hosting venue will be suspended for 12 years. According to the ICC rules, if a match referee of a single Test match has evaluated both pitch and outfield as ‘unfit’, then that venue would receive 3 demerit points. At the same time, it would take one more match to get the venue suspended
