Cuttack
The second match of the ODI series between India and England was played on 9 February (Sunday) at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. In this match, the Indian team won by four wickets and took an unbeatable lead of 2-0 in the three-match ODI series. The ODI was obstructed due to poor light in the ODI. The match stayed for about 30 minutes due to flood light malfunction. A flood light of the stadium deteriorated after the sixth over during the Indian innings. In such a situation, the match stopped for some time. Then when the match started, the entire tower of flood light was closed after one ball.
Regarding this matter, the state government has now given a show cause notice to the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA). The notice sent by the Sports Director of the Government of Odisha Siddharth Das said, ‘Odisha Cricket Association is instructed to present a detailed explanation in the matter and identify the persons/agencies who were responsible for it. Also, to prevent such incidents in future, the outline of measures should be made.
In this notice, OCA has been asked to respond within 10 days. The notice states, ‘Conclusions should be presented within 10 days of receipt of this letter. Due to this incident, the match stayed for 30 minutes, causing inconvenience to the players and the audience.
Odisha State Sports Minister Suryavanshi Suraj had already made it clear that clarification would be sought from OCA. Suraj was present in the stadium along with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and other senior ministers. He had said, ‘Explanation will be sought from OCA about flood light disturbances. The incident happened despite OCA to take all precautions and make widespread pre -arrangements.
However, OCA Secretary Sanjay Behera said that each flood light tower was linked to two generators. Behera told reporters, “When a generator was damaged, we started the second generator, but it took some time to remove the generator, because the players’ vehicle was standing between the tower and the other generator.”
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Sophia Firdaus from Barabati-Katk present in the stadium condemned the floodlight disturbances. He said, ‘What happened in Barabati Stadium is very unfortunate. It should be investigated fairly.