As scheduled, the Afghanistan national cricket team and the New Zealand national cricket team will face each other in a one-off test match. The match between the two teams is scheduled to be played at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

It is noteworthy that the match was supposed to start on Monday (September 20) but has not been played so far. The first day of the match was affected by rain and wet pitch and the match was expected to start on the second day. But the wet pitch did not allow the match to be played on the second day either.

Following this, the Greater Noida Stadium has come under huge criticism. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has received a lot of flak for the poor facilities at the stadium. There have been reports that the venue also lacks basic facilities and players are not happy with it.

The stadium, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Greater Noida Authority, has been the scene of many questions to higher bodies over the preparations, especially considering that an international match is scheduled to take place. Even officials of the Afghanistan Cricket Board have also stated that they will not play here next time.

The stadium is under scrutiny and a new report has made a stark claim. According to the Times reports, some people from the Greater Noida Authority along with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) organised the match during the rainy season at the stadium to earn some money.

The source confirmed the development and also claimed that UPCA had contacted the Afghanistan Cricket Board to discuss the venue but they did not say anything. He claimed that the Kanpur stadium was also offered to them. He explained:

“This stadium is under the authority of Greater Noida. Some of its residents and some from Afghanistan Cricket organised a match in Greater Noida during the rainy season to earn money.

“UPCA called us several times to tell us to hold a meeting. We will give you whatever you need. We have experience, it will be easy for you. UPCA said that the match should be held at Green Park because the UP League is being held at Ekana.”

Workers from Labour Chowk were brought in to manage the ground: Source blames Afghanistan Cricket Board officials

The source also made a strong statement, saying that the authorities got the Labour Chowk workers to take care of the ground. He also revealed that a super-informant was made available after the ACB sent a WhatsApp message to a UPCA person.

“Workers from Labour Chowk were brought in to take care of the ground. Have you ever seen anything like this? A WhatsApp was sent to a person from UPCA and then the Super Sopper was made available at the stadium,” he concluded.