India-West Indies third ODI likely to move out from Cuttack due to Cyclone Fani damage

Odisha’s premier cricket stadium - Barabati Stadium in Cuttack - is slated to host the third and final ODI between India and the West Indies on December 22 in what will be the year’s last game for the Indian cricket team. However, the damage caused to the floodlight, stands, press box and the old Pavilion are of a gargantuan level, and the Odisha Cricket Association is at a position of not being able to carry any recovery work due to lack of funds.

Odisha suffered its worst cyclone since 1999 Super Cyclone on May 3 this year and due to the heavy windfall, more than 60 lights from the floodlight tower fell down, leaving the stadium in a very difficult situation. Apart from that, the New Pavilion and Gallery No.5 lost their roofs and the digital scoreboard frame fell down on an unfortunate day for the coastal Odisha. 

Sources close to SportsCafe revealed that Odisha Cricket Association had asked BCCI for five crore rupees in order to carry forward the recovery work and make the stadium ready for the game between India and Windies, but the BCCI is adamant not to release a single penny until the end of BCCI AGM on October 23.

“Even if we get the funds in October, it is impossible for us to do the recovery work as only floodlight work would take as much as one month. All eight towers will have to undergo the changes and all the bulbs need to be changed. It would have been alright to replace a few but after Kapil Dev’s company checked the bulbs, they found out that total installation is required in order to make the light properly functional,” an OCA functionary told exclusively to SportsCafe.

SportsCafe tried to reach out to a BCCI official, privy to the development of tours and scheduling of international matches, who sounded confident that they can arrange for an alternate venue if Barabati Stadium fails to host the match on the scheduled date.