After blunt statements from an anonymous official of Afghanistan Cricket Board slamming the conditions at the Greater Noida Stadium and accusing the BCCI of rejecting the ACB’s request for alternate venues were widely reported by multiple Indian media outlets, Afghanistan are trading on tricky waters.

The officials of Afghanistan Cricket Board have been cautious about criticism, fearing it could spoil relations with the BCCI, but said they were disappointed.

An ACB official said, “You won’t believe me but the stadia in Afghanistan have better facilities than this one. We have improved our infrastructure in the past few years. Our first choice was the Lucknow stadium and the second was Dehradun. Our requests were rejected by the BCCI and we were told that both the states are hosting their respective T20 leagues. This was the only ground available and we had no other choice left.”

But after the second day’s play was scrapped, Afghanistan officials spoke officially to reporters.

“Everyone, including the ground authorities, have worked hard,” MenhajuddinNaz, the ACB international cricket manager, told reporters. “Even if it had been any other venue, they would have struggled to get it back on time.”

Naz said they had been offered to host the Test in the northern city of Kanpur or the southern city of Bengaluru but had opted for Greater Noida.