RAWALPINDI: The Pindi Cricket Stadium presented a portrait of complete misery here on Saturday as day four of the weather-disrupted opening fixture of the two-Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was called off without a single ball being delivered.

The history-making first match of the ICC World Test Championship in Pakistan is now destined to conclude in a draw despite Sunday being forecast as a clear, sunny day. It was an irony that at the appointed scheduled starting time of 9:45am, the light drizzle had stopped. But the ground had already taken a heavy beating from sporadic spells of rains which began in the wee hours of Saturday and left pools of water on the PVC sheets covering the square and the adjoining outfield area as well as the uncovered spaces around the arena.

The level of pessimism set the tone because both teams didn’t bother to leave the comfort zone of their hotel in the federal capital while umpires Richard Kettleborough and his English compatriot Michael Gough needed only two inspections before confirming — around noon — the first washed out in a home Test since 1998 when Zimbabwe the visitors and day five of the second match saw no play at all.

While carrying their routine inspection, Kettleborough and Gough were not just accompanied by fourth official Shozab Raza but Zakir Khan, the influential PCB director international cricket, too. According to the playing conditions, other than match officials — Kettleborough, Gough and Shozab in this case — only the groundstaff personnel are allowed access to the playing arena once they cross the boundary line.

The PCB media department authenticated Zakir’s presence by officially releasing photographs of the former Test paceman chatting with the umpires during the inspection.

So far this ill-fated Test has seen just 91.5 overs of action in the preceding three days from which Sri Lanka scored 282-6 with Dhananjaya de Silva on verge of his sixth century in the game’s longest form. And if there is hope of play on Sunday’s final day, Sri Lanka are unlikely to close their innings overnight because there is nothing left in the contest except individual milestones.

And if that is the case then Abid Ali’s maiden taste of Test cricket could be nothing but a nightmare if the opener doesn’t get to bat at all before the teams head off to Karachi for the final Test that starts on Thursday at the National Stadium.

While the overall arrangements in staging the first Test at home after 10 years and nine months have been more than satisfactory, there is a feeling of disappointment not only the among the cricket-starved spectators of the twin cities but members of the media too.

Renowned cricket broadcaster Tariq Saeed, while talking to Dawn, commented: “It’s a big shame to see such a landmark occasion of Pakistan hosting their first Test at home after a long time ruined by bad weather. Perhaps, the PCB can take leaf out of Sri Lanka (SLC)’s book by learning the art of maintaining the ground.

“I’ve been to Sri Lanka on several tours and had seen closely how their groundstaff function efficiently with precision each time when the rains come. And mind you it does rain far more in Sri Lanka than here. But every time play is held up, the groundstaff, numbering over 100, sprint from different directions [of the ground] with huge sheets. And within seconds they cover the entire playing area so that it remains dry.

“That’s why there is always less playing time lost to weather. But here we’ve already been robbed of 268.1 overs of cricket not just by poor weather but also inadequate facilities and lack of manpower.”

Another journalist, while requesting anonymity, observed that the organisational aspects have to be reviewed after being asked to leave his [motorbike] helmet outside the stadium by those manning the facility.

“I think this is highly embarrassing if one gets treated in this manner. Nobody stopped me from carrying the [motorcycle] helmet inside the venue on the first three days,” the journalist complained. “But today [Saturday] it was pretty annoying when I was curtly ordered to leave behind my helmet in the parking area. Will anyone take responsibility if the equipment goes missing?”

Summarised scores:

SRI LANKA 282-6 in 91.5 overs (D.M. de Silva 87 not out, F.D.M. Karunaratne 59, B.O.P. Fernando 40, N. Dickwella 33, A.D. Mathews 31; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-58, Nasim Shah 2-83) vs PAKISTAN.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2019