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Cuttack: With the third One Day International (ODI) match between India and England scheduled to begin on January 19, hectic preparations are underway in Barabati Stadium in the millennium city to spruce up its infrastructure.
While paints have been applied to the galleries, the curators have taken special care to keep the ground condition intact.
Talking to OTV, Sutu Ghosh, Assistant Curator of OCA said the development work of the pitch where the match would be played, is already over. “Now the maintenance work is underway. To ensure that the ground field would remain in a perfect condition, we are applying hormones to the grass to make its roots strong. Moreover, efforts are on to further improve the condition of the ground for this match compared to the previous match held here,” he added.
Talking about the dew factor, Ghosh said since the ODI would be a day-night affair, steps have been taken to prevent dews during the second session of the match. New chemical medicines have been developed which will not allow dew to settle on the grass and soil. We will apply these medicines both on the grass and the pitch so that there will be inconvenience for the players of both the teams.
Asked about the outfield condition of the stadium, he said the outfield of Barabati Stadium is always fast. “This year we are making the entire outfield sand-based which will be much smoother and faster,” Ghosh pointed out.
On the other hand, taking note of the unsavoury incident in the stadium during the T20 match between India and South Africa last year, adequate security arrangements will be put in place for the ensuing ODI next month.
Talking to media persons, Cuttack DCP Sanjeev Arora said in the first round of meeting, police had intimated OCA about adding some improvement to be done inside the stadium as well as the security arrangements for the match like installation of CCTV cameras, mode of fixing nets to prevent the spectators from throwing any object at the players, arrangements to be made at the entry and exit points and articles to be allowed inside the stadium. “We are trying to get the compliance from the OCA on these parameters by the end of this month,” he added.
Arora said as decided earlier, police will not allow any spectator to carry water bottle inside the stadium. But he said as OCA has made no provision of drinking water for the spectators watching the match from the gallery, suggestion was given to make alternative arrangements somewhere inside the stadium to provide drinking water. “The Commissionerate Police had sought compliance in this regard from OCA through a letter. We hope that OCA will take steps in this regard positively,” he added.
