The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), technically the host of the Test, were left red-faced. But, more importantly, this whole thing was a poor advert for India as a ‘host’ nation.
There is a lot more than India needs to be doing than just handing over a venue to Afghanistan for their home matches. The board should have insisted on the ACB picking a proper state association venue as their home base rather than a random ground in Greater Noida.
Anything that happens at any ground in India will be seen from the prism of the might of the country in the sport rather than in the technicalities of who owns the ground and who does not. The sight of fans being brought in, and grass being cut and pasted was pitiable to say the least. These could clearly have been avoided if the Board had told the ACB very clearly that the ground is not linked to any state association.
If every form of cricket that happens in India is linked to the Board or its affiliated units, why was this ground in Greater Noida allowed to walk away with the bragging and hosting rights? There needs to be greater ownership of the game than this hands off approach that we saw in this whole matter.
After all, if any cricket is held in Australia, England or New Zealand or any of the major nations, the Board of that country takes ownership and control of the game.
