In a good news for cricket enthusiasts of Odisha, team India is going to lock horns with visitor South Africa in the first T20I match of the series at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, confirmed Odisha Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Behera on Friday.
Speaking to media, Behera said, " One T20 international match between India and South Africa will be played at Barabati Stadium on June 12."
"Though BCCI has not announced the venues yet, it will declare them soon. A decision in this regard has been taken during the tour and fixture committee meeting," Behera added.
Notably, Barabati had lost out India-West Indies first T20I tie of the three-match series scheduled to be played on February 15 in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The BCCI was later forced to host the ODIs and T20Is in just two cities – Ahmedabad and Kolkata – in order to maintain a stable bio bubble for players and coaching staff.
The South African cricket team is scheduled to play a 5-match T20 series in India from June 9 to 19.
It is worthwhile to mention here that in 2015, angry fans at the Barabati Stadium had hurled water bottles into the field when South Africa outplayed India to win the T20 series. The match was marred by shameful and unruly crowd behavior due to a lackluster show by the Men in Blue. The visitors overcame the 93-run target with 17-balls to spare to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.