Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra
Cuttack, Oct 3: After India’s loss in the first match of the T20 series at Dharmasala, fans’ expectation has been mounting for the upcoming T20 game at the Barabati Stadium here. But rain may throw a spanner in their plans with the Met Office predicting moderate to heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours. On the day of the match, Barabati Stadium may experience a couple of showers and there is every possibility of a shortened game.
The Barabati Stadium had the appearance of a water-logged ground, Saturday due to the incessant afternoon and evening showers. The ground staff however, kept a constant watch on the ground and the pitch and the surrounding square were all covered up. In spite of the showers, however, they stated that the match will start on schedule. “Even if it rains like this on the day of the match, we are fully ready with equipment at our disposal to prepare the ground quickly,” curator Pankaj Pattnaik stated with confidence.
Meanwhile both the Indian and South Africa teams arrived at Bhubaneswar, Saturday evening and they had to face showers. They were received at the Biju Patnaik International Airport by OCA officials amid tight security.
With rain threat looming large in the next couple of days, the practice session of both sides are yet to be finalised. Even though, the South Africa and Indian team management have fixed tentative times of 1pm and 3pm in the afternoon Sunday, it may change depending on the weather.
Tickets exhausted
All the tickets have been sold for the high voltage game. The remaining 850 tickets which were still left were bought by fans at Counter No. 1 within half-an-hour Saturday.