Despite a rain-free morning and bright sunshine later in the day, day three's play of the second Test between India and Bangladesh was called off without a ball being bowled at the Green Park Stadium. The unexpected cause? A ‘wet outfield'. Frustration grew as both teams remained at their hotel, while match officials inspected the field three times, all without covers. But there was no play, leading to two days now lost due to rain. Shiv Kumar, the pitch curator of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) maintained that everything was under control in Kanpur. But he admitted to having confusion regarding the match officials' reservations. “They gave us three different time for inspection but never told us what is the issue. Which area was wet or whatever is the problem. I told them that you can start the match but if you have any concern let me know,” he told IANS.
With the morning and lunch sessions already lost, match referee Jeff Crowe conducted multiple inspections, but the soggy patches on the field, particularly in the deep mid-wicket area near Pavilion C, left him unsatisfied. The damp 30-yard circle also continued to concern, leading to the push of the pitch inspection to 2pm. Crowe, alongside reserve umpire Virender Sharma and TV umpire Rod Tucker, insisted on further delays, hoping for sunlight to dry the affected areas before allowing play to resume. Before the third inspection which was scheduled at 2pm, a senior ground official told IANS that the match officials wanted ground to dry up with natural light but were never told about the exact area of wet patch.
“Match officials have asked us to wait for the natural light then only we can continue the play. The pitch and another part of the ground are perfectly good, there are certain areas of concern but we can start the play.” “If they want to wait for the sunlight, then they should have given the next inspection time at 1pm, because a little sunlight is always here which will dry the concerned area in an hour. We have already lost two sessions, next inspection at 2pm will lead us to call off the match,” a ground official working at the stadium told IANS.
Spectators travelling from different parts of the state showed their frustration with the ground facilities at Green Park, leaving them disheartened and wanting UPCA to take good care of one of the oldest stadiums in the country, which has been hosting Test cricket since 1952. “I am deeply feeling bad, Green Park is one of the oldest stadiums and we got a Test match after three years. The game should have continued for all five days, It's the UPCA and the match organizers, who should be blamed. They are not taking proper care of it. We are coming from different parts of the state and investing money to watch the match but of what use,” said a fan from Fatehpur. Another fan from Kanpur said, “Ye Green Park ko kuch ni milna chahie, yahan sab gadbad chal raha hai. Mahaul aisa banate hain jaise kitni suvidhaein hain but they can't even conduct a match on a day when it was a proper sunny. Green Park shouldn't get a match, I am happy to travel to Lucknow or Varanasi but not Green Park.”
Kanpur's Drainage Issues: A Long-Standing Problem
The teams had played only 35 overs in the entire match so far, with Bangladesh standing at 107 for 3. The delay has sparked fresh criticism of the stadium's drainage system, with questions raised on its readiness to host international games. When rain hampered the proceedings on day one, ground staff worked to dry the surface by using sawdust and covering the field, but the efforts were futile. Even with 75 groundsmen working tirelessly, the wet patches stubbornly remained, disappointing the thousands of spectators in the stands, who have been eager to witness a Test match. This isn't the first time such issues have emerged. Memories of the recent Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand in Greater Noida came flooding back—when poor outfield conditions led to the match being abandoned without a ball being bowled earlier this month.
Questions of Readiness and Accountability
The venue director, Sanjay Kapoor, assured before the game started that, “We guarantee a five-day match here at the Green Park Stadium and we have ensured that everything is in place. We are prepared for rain but I assure you even if rain comes we will start the game in an hour or two.” The BCCI sources have suggested to IANS that the Green Park Stadium could lose out on hosting future international matches, with Lucknow's Ekana Stadium—a state-of-the-art facility with superior infrastructure—emerging as a preferred alternative. Ekana Stadium has already hosted a Test match between Afghanistan and the West Indies, apart from being a home ground of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and hosting 2023 Men's ODI World Cup games. It is all set to host the upcoming Irani Cup game between Rest of India and Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai from October 1-5.
A Stadium Trapped in Time
They call it Green Park, but for large parts of Saturday and a few hours on Sunday, it was more like Blue Lagoon. After all, blue was the colour of the covers that shrouded -- ineffectively, as it turns out -- one of India’s oldest international cricket venues, in Kanpur. For two days in a row now, no play has been possible in India’s second Test against Bangladesh; across three days, a mere 35 overs have been bowled. Assuming that there are no further interruptions – and one must be brave to make that assumption – India have only two full days to try and force the issue. If they are unable to, and that’s the more likely possibility given the paucity of time, they will lose valuable World Test Championship points. Who will shoulder the blame – the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which allocated the Test to the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, or the UPCA, under whose watch this fiasco has unfolded? Actually, forget it. How does it matter? Will it swell India’s points tally?
It was little short of ironical that even as the BCCI’s outstanding new Centre of Excellence (as the National Cricket Academy will henceforth be known) was presented to the media in Bengaluru on Sunday afternoon, the third day’s play in Kanpur was declared a non-starter. This, despite the fact that it hadn’t rained since around 10.00 am, just like it hadn’t the previous day too, when also not a single ball was bowled. One must go back to 2015, and coincidentally Bengaluru, to unearth the last time two consecutive days had to be abandoned in a Test involving India at home. But in that instance, in AB de Villiers’ 100th Test, there was a valid reason. There was hardly any let-up from the elements, it just kept raining and raining and raining, preventing any play on the last four days. No excuses this time around, with wet patches on the outfield rather than incessant rain being the culprit.
A Cry for Modernization
Wet patches? In this day and age? Where is the drainage? And, if there is no adequate drainage, why was Kanpur gifted a game when there are more than a dozen Test centres in India? Green Park used to be a permanent stop in the Indian Test calendar in an era gone by. But it seems as if time really has passed Green Park by, that it’s trapped in a time warp while the rest of the world has moved on. The drainage is almost pretty much the same as it was in 1969, when Gundappa Vishwanath celebrated his Test debut against Australia with a second-innings 137. Don’t India’s cricketers deserve better? Doesn’t cricket deserve better? Less than three weeks back, Afghanistan’s cricket board came under reasonable ridicule for having chosen to play a one-off Test against New Zealand in Greater Noida, a match which saw no slice of action. There was little rain during the scheduled five days of the game, the offending party was the drainage and the lack of adequate covers. Tut-tut, we said. We offered them Bengaluru and Lucknow, but they chose Greater Noida, we carped. Serves them right, we left unsaid. What do we say now?
A Missed Opportunity
There is much to commend the BCCI for and, truth to tell, it has been commended enough too. But how does one explain away this avoidable embarrassment? If the UPCA did have to host a Test match, why wasn’t Lucknow the chosen venue? After all, it is a much more modern and play-friendly ground and will host the Irani Cup game between Mumbai and Rest of India from Tuesday, so there are no concerns regarding its game-readiness. Why did it have to be Kanpur, whose Green Park is such a misnomer? No sport is as finicky as cricket when it comes to playing conditions, and with good reason. If reasons beyond one’s control contribute to a loss of play, one can put their hand up and say, ‘What can we do?’ But Kanpur is a manmade disaster, which is unforgivable when there is so much lip service to state-of-the-art and professionalism. It might be convenient and easy to point a finger at the groundstaff and nitpick about their inefficiency and inability to react quickly, but why have they been put in this position in the first place? Each year, the BCCI disburses handsome sums in excess of ₹75 crore to its member units so that, among other things, they can upgrade their cricketing infrastructure. The UPCA might have used those funds judiciously at other grounds, perhaps, but at Green Park? No sir. Which is why the red faces.
