AFG Vs NZ, One-Off Test: Hygiene Goes for a toss as caterers use urinal washrooms to clean utensils At Greater Noida stadium

New Delhi: The catering service at the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Cricket Stadium in Greater Noida used the wash basins in the urinal washroom to clean the utensils, breaking all hygiene measures. The incident was caught on camera on Tuesday as the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand is yet to get going due to poor outfield caused by persistent rains over the past few days.

The stadium, which has hosted 11 white-ball matches (ODIs and T20Is), has come under severe scrutiny after the first two days of the game were abandoned due to unplayable ground conditions caused by persistent rains. Although Greater Noida has been witnessing occasional rains, no proper measures were taken to protect the field of play as large patches of muddy and soggy outfield posed a higher risk for the players.

Additionally, there were several complaints of lack of facilities at the venue for press who went to cover the match. As many as 20-25 groundstaffs were seen battling the conditions besides the five super soppers. Despite that, the drying process turned out to be slow and not up the mark.

It is also understood that the covers used to cover the ground were rented from a local tent house, thus giving a clear idea of lack of preparedness and proper planning required for an international cricket match. The absence of a proper drainage system also raised several questions.

Earlier on Day 1, as many as six pitch and ground inspections took place before the day was called off. The story was same on Day 2 with two inspections taking place at 12 PM and 3 PM respectively before the officials decided to abandon the day’s play.

“The second day of Afghanistan vs New Zealand is also called of due to wet outfield. The game was planned for today, but it rained again last night and the due to the wet outfit the game couldn’t take place today as well,” Afghanistan Cricket Board said in a statement on Tuesday.