ICC grants international status to Greater Noida cricket ground

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved international status of the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex also known as the Greater Noida cricket ground. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that after the induction as an international venue the ground can now officially host international games.

It was conveyed to the BCCI on December 21. “We got the intimation from the ICC last night (Wednesday),” a top BCCI official was quoted by Mumbai Mirror. The Greater Noida ground is the 48th stadium in India to earn the international venue status. In what could be termed its big match debut four Duleep Trophy matches that were played under lights and with the pink ball were hosted at the ground along with a couple of Ranji Trophy 2016-17 matches this season.

As per the protocol, there was a formal inspection by the ICC representatives to check the facility while the India v England Test series was underway. After completing the prescribed procedure the ICC was satisfied with the stadium and thus took the decision in favour of awarding it international status.

Though as per the BCCI officials the venue just isn’t ready to host international contests yet but it will host a few matches in the coming year as Afghanistan will host Ireland at their adopted home ground. The Asian team has been practicing and playing matches at the ground for the last one year or so. Afghanistan and Ireland will play a five-match ODI series and three T20Is along with the four-day Intercontinental Cup game.

Territory wise the ground should have been with the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) but it has been developed by the Greater Noida Authority (GNA).  Though it has gained the status from the ICC to host international matches the capacity of 8000 will certainly need to go up to accommodate a larger crowd.