Barabati Stadium floodlight issue: Odisha govt slaps show-cause notice on OCA

Taking strict note of the floodlight failure during the 2nd India-England ODI at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, the Sports and Youth Services Department of the Odisha government has issued a show-cause notice to the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) and asked it to explain the incident in ten days.

A letter dated 10 February from State Sports Director, Siddhartha Das, stated, “Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) is hereby directed to submit a detailed explanation for the cause of the disruption and identify the persons/ agencies who were responsible for such lapses and outline the measures taken to prevent similar incidents in the future. The findings must be submitted within 10 days upon receipt of this letter.”

The decision comes after major anger and embarrassment to Odisha following a floodlight malfunction that halted the play for nearly 25 minutes and caused players to vacate the field, with a visibly annoyed Rohit Sharma seen shaking his head in disappointment.

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The disruption occurred during India’s chase in the seventh and threw parts of the field into darkness. Moreover, the issue has also become a subject of debate online with many questioning the Barabati Stadium’s chances to host any international matches from here on.

Meanwhile, OCA Secretary Sanjay Behera cited a generator glitch and stated that a backup generator was obstructed by the parked team bus which led to inordinate delays.

Notably, State Sports Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, present at the match with Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, stated yesterday that he would probe accountability.

In an address to the media on Monday, Suraj added that the government has taken note of the serious nature of the issue. "The incident has hurt sports fans and citizens of Odisha very harshly. The OCA had many sub-committees in charge of various issues and we have handed them a show-cause notice to explain the exact reason and the cause for the delay in installing the backup generator," the minister added.

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Despite the hiccup, Rohit Sharma’s match-winning 119 off 90 balls not only marked his 32nd ODI century but also India’s series victory. However, the growing scrutiny over infrastructure readiness at the iconic venue and OCA’s alleged lack of proper preparedness for high-stakes matches remains the centre stage of debate.