Greater Noida Stadium’s future of hosting international matches depends on Javagal Srinath’s report, here’ how

The historic one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida was called off on Monday without a ball being bowled.

Despite no rain, the skippers of both teams haven't even turned up for the toss, reported news agency PTI. The reason is that the stadium is ill-equipped to handle a Test match.

Now, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) members are visibly upset with the conditions, and a few of them swear never to return to the venue again.

"This is a huge mess; we are never coming back here. The players are also unhappy with the facilities here. We had spoken with the concerned people well in advance and were assured by the stadium guys that everything will be in order (pertaining to the media facilities)," HT quoted an ACB official as saying. While another added, "Nothing has changed since we came here. It's not improved one bit."

The Greater Noida stadium is Afghanistan's home ground. The ICC in 2016 gave the stadium the go-ahead to host full member games, and following this, Afghanistan hosted two ODIs and T20Is each between 2017 and 2020.

What difference Srinath's report will make?

Match referee Javagal Srinath's report on Greater Noida Stadium's preparedness will decide the venue's fate in the coming days.

The ICC's 'Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process' rules, which came into effect in November 2023, say, “After each Match, the Match Referee (Srinath in this case) will complete a Pitch and Outfield Report Form and send it to the ICC Senior Cricket Operations Manager.”

The 'Pitch and Outfield Report Form' will be compiled using the ICC guidelines for rating pitches and outfields. It may also include comments on the pitch and outfield from the captains of the two teams that played the match.

It will be interesting to see how New Zealand skipper Tim Southee comments on the situation.

After the receipt is submitted in 14 days, the ICC senior cricket operations manager will forward the 'Pitch and Outfield Report Form' to the home board and a copy to the visiting board.

After this, the ICC senior cricket operations manager will advise the home board on any demerit points – imposed on a host venue that will remain active for a rolling five-year period.

According to ICC clause, "If the conditions are such that the Match Referee has cause to rate the pitch and/or outfield Unsatisfactory or Unfit, a corresponding number of Demerit Points will be imposed upon the Host Venue as outlined in the guidelines for rating pitches and outfields."

In case of Greater Noida venue accumulates a total of six or more demerit points, its accreditation to host international matches will be suspended for a period of 12 months, report says.

However, ICC rules say that if both pitch and outfield are deemed 'unfit' by match referee for a Test match, then it would get three demerit points and it would take one more such game to get the venue suspended.

After the demerit points, the ACB would have to decide whether to continue playing at the Greater Noida Stadium. In case Greater Noida gets demerit points, local authorities would need the BCCI's deep pockets to make it at least a palatable domestic venue.

Is BCCI related?

Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had allowed ACB to choose between Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and Green Park in Kanpur. But ACB chose a cost-effective venue.

Since the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2019, the BCCI has not hosted any of its domestic games in Greater Noida and may not host another one in the distant future due to citing substandard conditions.

With agency inputs.