Greater Noida Weather: Occasional Rains Likely To Play Spoilsport In Afghanistan Vs New Zealand One-Off Test

New Delhi: The historic one-Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand in Greater Noida is likely to be affected by rain as showers are expected on all five days of the game. The Test match, which is the first-ever between the sides, is slated to start at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex on September 9. The weather in Noida has been unexpected for the past week with unexpected scattered showers, humidity, cloudy and sunny spells.

According to Accuweather, there are 78 per cent chances of rain in Greater Noida with humid weather on Monday (September 9). The forecast will be partly sunny along with thunderstorms in spots in the morning followed by a couple of thunderstorms around in the afternoon.

The weather will become better in the next two days – Day 2 (September 10) and 3 (September 11) – as the forecast will be mostly sunny. Day 4 (September 12) is likely to get occasional rain and thunderstorms. The final day of the Test match will be cloudy and humid.

Earlier, Afghanistan’s first training session on August 30 had to cancelled due to rain and wet outfield. New Zealand also couldn’t take the field on September 8 due to the same. Led by Tim Southee, the whole team had to be content indoors before the pacer and his counterpart unveiled the trophy.

Shahidi Calls For More Tests For Afghanistan

Meanwhile, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi on Sunday called for more Test matches for his side and a dedicated home venue in India to improve training and gain a competitive edge over their opponents. Afghanistan cannot play in their home country due to ongoing security issues, instead they have hosted matches at three venues in India — Greater Noida, Lucknow, Dehradun and the UAE.

“India is our home, and when we host teams, other nations have played more cricket here,” Shahidi said on the eve of the one-off Test against New Zealand. “Hopefully, we will get a good venue here in India and if we restrict ourselves to one venue, it will be effective for us.

“Hopefully, the ACB and the BCCI will get us a good venue. If you see our records in first-class, it’s good because we play at our home ground. We know those conditions. Hopefully, in the future, there will be a time when the teams will travel to Afghanistan and our average will be higher,” he added.

Squads

Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Ikram Alikhil(w), Bahir Shah, Shahidullah Kamal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Khalil Ahmed, Zia-ur-Rehman, Afsar Zazai, Nijat Masood, Shamsurrahman, Abdul Malik

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Tom Latham(w), Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee(c), Matt Henry, Tom Blundell, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, William ORourke.