Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott acknowledged the ground staff's diligent efforts to prepare the pitch for the one-off Test against New Zealand in Greater Noida.
Despite their hard work, the match was ultimately abandoned on Friday due to persistent rain, preventing any play from taking place over the five-day period.
The wet outfield forced the postponement of play on the first two days, and subsequent rainfall further diminished the possibility of any cricket action. As a result, the match was officially called off, leaving both teams disappointed and with no Test cricket to be played.
"Disappointed" about the outcome, Trott hopes that the match being abandoned serves as a good learning case for the future.
"We're disappointed. We'd geared ourselves up, and we'd trained really well. So really disappointed. The thing was, we got to train on the square [on] the days before, so we got to see the pitch. The guys were starting to get there; their appetite for the game was growing even more. So, heartbreaking not to be able to play. What I hope it is it's just a good learning case that things can crop up... everything has got to be checked out and made sure that it's ready for Test-match cricket," Trott said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"I think sometimes we take it for granted when we go and play all these things that have already been done in the past for other nations or other venues - with regards to drainage or ground staff, all those sorts of things. I think the ground staff have worked, obviously, very hard here. It just unfortunately hasn't materialised, and we've had a freakish amount of rain for this time of year because that's what I'm being told by the locals. They'll probably know better than me," he added.
Trott felt that a good contest could have unfolded between the two sides if the conditions allowed the game to proceed. The Afghanistan head coach believes that his side would have gained something even if they had lost the Test match.
"The real sad thing is I think it was going to be a really good pitch, and it would have been a good contest, which is a disappointing thing. So that's the most disheartening thing, I suppose, for all of us. I think we could have gained whether we won or lost. I think the players would have learnt a hell of a lot in this format of the game, which is the challenge going forward in red-ball cricket for Afghanistan. But it's the occasion as well. The historic moment of playing against New Zealand for the players - they would have been very proud of that," Trott said.
