Cuttack: The Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) through a letter Thursday to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has expressed its inability to conduct the India-New Zealand T20 game slated to be played at the Barabati Stadium here November 4 as the date is clashing with the Bali yatra Festival. The state body has requested the BCCI to allot it a limited overs game (50 overs or T20) during Sri Lanka’s tour of India.
Even though, the BCCI is yet to announce the official dates of the Kiwi tour of India, it has already sent mails to respective state units regarding the dates of the Kiwi games. Sources informed that OCA has been asked to host the game November 4. Similarly, a Bhubaneswar-based hotel which hosts the Indian and the visiting teams has been informed about the arrival of the players November 3 and their departure November 5.
The Bali yatra Festival will be inaugurated November 4 and like it does every year, it will attract huge crowds, more than 10 lakhs. The OCA is apprehensive about security issues if the match takes place on the inaugural day of the festival.
Commissionerate Police attends to the security issues of the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. They have also said that it would be impossible for them to have proper security measures in place if both the events take place simultaneously.
OCA working committee chairman Dhiren Palei said Thursday that the body has already written to the BCCI expressing its inability to conduct the match November 4.
“We have requested the BCCI to allot us an India-Sri Lanka limited overs game in place of the New Zealand match. We are sure that the board will heed to our request,” Palei told reporters.
Tulasi opts out
Ace state player Tulasi Behera has opted out of the Cuttack side for the upcoming Junior Inter-District Sepak Takraw Championships and National Junior Sepak Takraw Championships which all take place here.
“I am quite eligible to play for the tournament. But I have decided to skip it as I want to give others a chance to play. They can only develop their skills by getting the right kind of exposure,” Tulasi stated Thursday.
Chess tourney
KIIT University and Jagatsinghapur District Chess Association will jointly organise the 18th National Urban Chess Championships in a village for the first time.
The tournament will be played at Kalarabanka close to here, August 6-10. Approximately 200 players from across the country will take part in this event. Eminent players of the state like Swayams Mishra, Aparajita Gochhikar, Saina Salonika and Kiran Manisha Mohanty will be playing in the tournament.
