The BCCI isn't involved in this Test match. It was the Afghanistan Cricket Board's choice and the Greater Noida Authority was supposed to provide them with international standard facilities.
This was only the eighth time in Test cricket history that a match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
While Herath has been appointed for Tests against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka as New Zealand's spin bowling coach, Rathour will be with the Kiwi side only for the contest against Afghanistan.
For the second successive day, not a single ball could be bowled at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports complex in Greater Noida putting the venue under scanner and making it an international embarrassment.
Dinesh Karthik and Sheldon Jackson added 85 runs at a fair clip in only 16.2 overs before a sharp evening downpour rendered the outfield unplayable in the rain-hit Duleep Trophy cricket match between India 'Red' and India 'Blue' in Greater Noida on Wednesday. Jackson impressed with a strike-filled, unbeaten 48 off 55 balls, which contained eight hits to the fence.
In-form chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav led India Red's fightback with a four-wicket burst to reduce India Blue to 200 for five on another rain-hit day in the Duleep Trophy in Greater Noida on Tuesday. Gautam Gambhir (77) and Mayank Agarwal (92) missed out on centuries before Yadav's sublime spell brought the match alive after a chunk of second day's play was lost due to rain, much like the opening day at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground. After 34.2 overs on day one, 27.4 overs were possible in the match played with pink ball and under lights.
There was poor communication and complete mismanagement between the stadium authority and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). Rain had affected the buildup to the Test, the first between the two nations, with New Zealand not being able to complete a single practice session properly.
India Red predictably completed the formalities polishing off the India Green lower order early on the fourth and final day to win the inaugural Day-Night Duleep Trophy encounter by a comprehensive 219-run margin in Noida.
India's aid comes to mind as Afghanistan script famous win
There is a more authentic Indian cricket connection to Afghanistan and that is through the family roots of Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi.
Afghanistan's cricket team will shifted its home base from Sharjah to the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association stadium in Noida where they will play their matches and practice after an MoU was signed on Thursday in this regard.
18-year-old Afghan sensation Rashid Khan can't wait to start his maiden stint in the Indian Premier League with Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he will be sharing the dressing room with his childhood hero Yuvraj Singh.
Yuvraj Singh feels it moved a bit more than SG Test ball while Robin Uthappa's observations varied from colour change to lack of reverse swing as the first set of inputs on the much talked about 'Pink ball' Day-Night experiment in the Duleep Trophy came to the fore.
Heres a roundup of all the Ranji Trophy action from across India.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Friday
A summary of Tuesday's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
Maharashtra's Swapnil Gugale slammed a triple century while Ankit Bawane hit a double hundred as the duo registered the highest-partnership in the history of the Ranji Trophy, against Delhi, in the Ranji Trophy Group B match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Friday.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Thursday...
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