India vs South Africa T20 match at Barabati Stadium on Oct 5
Barabati Stadium will host its first international T20 match between India and South Africa on October 5, secretary of Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) Asirbad Behera announced on Monday.
“We have got the official confirmation regarding the allotment of the international T20 match and we have already started preparing for it,” said Behera.
Barabati Stadium has in the past hosted Indian Premier League T20 but it will be for the first international match here in the shortest format of the game. The OCA authorities have started massive preparations for the day and night game.
Earlier, the venue was not included in the list of stadiums announced for India’s two-month home tour against the Proteas.
The change comes after Gujarat Cricket Association’s request to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to withdraw its name as the venue for the Test match that was allotted to Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera.
The Gujarat cricket body expressed inability to host the match due to ongoing renovation work. Consequently, the BCCI shifted the match to Mohali.
Sources said as Mohali had already been allotted the T20 match, it was shifted to Cuttack.
The other two T20 matches will be played in Calcutta and Dharmashala.
Behera said to avoid duplication of tickets and overcrowding in the stadium, this time all the seats and tickets will be numbered. “People cannot indulge in any kind of malpractice as the ticket holder will be allotted the seat number mentioned in his/her ticket,” said Behera.
The last International match between India and Sri Lanka was played at Barabati stadium on November 2. BCCI on Monday announced the complete fixture of the India and South Africa series, during which India and the Proteas will play four Tests, five one-day internationals and three T20 matches against India.
