Asirbad refutes BCCI, says Barabati to host Test in Jan!

Cuttack: Even as the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack missed out in the list of Test venues in the itinerary for the packed 2016-17 season announced by the Tour Programmes & Fixtures Committee of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) today, the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) honorary secretary Asirbad Behera, sidelined for the time being as per a Supreme Court, asserted that the Bangladesh cricket team will play a one-off Test match at Barabati stadium in the last week of January next year.

Refuting media reports that the Barabati stadium has been deprived of Test venue status, Behera said; “I can assure you that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will accord Test venue status to Barabati stadium at its annual general body meeting scheduled in September this year. We shall host the one off Test against Bangladesh in January next year.”

Asked about the possibility of a repeat of the unsavoury incident that had taken place during a T20 match between India and South Africa last year during the England-India one-day international match in January next year, he said there will be no such incident henceforth.

“We will not allow the spectators to carry bottles to the gallery. On the other hand, we have decided to put up pipe water connection inside the stadium so that the spectators can drink water in use-and-throw glasses,” Behera said.

“We have enough experience of hosting one-day matches in this stadium and hence there will be no problem in hosting this upcoming match. We have decided to prepare the pitch for the match after the rainy season,” he added.

Expressing happiness over the decision of the BCCI to allot an ODI match between India and England at Barabati stadium, former Odisha Ranji cricketer Pawan Agrawal said the pitch at Barabati would be a batting-friendly wicket. In the last one-day match played between India and Sri Lanka in 2014 here, India had made 363 in 50 overs, he recalled.

“The cricket lovers of Odisha, especially the young cricketers, will see top cricketing shots in the England-India match, which will be a big boon for them,” Agrawal said.