Barabati to host T20I instead of ODI for India-West Indies series

The Barabati Stadium will host the one off Twenty20 International between India and West Indies on October 22 instead of the scheduled third ODI on October 14, Orissa Cricket Association said. The Board has confirmed that the T20 which was originally scheduled in New Delhi will be held in Cuttack instead of the ODI due to unavailability of hotel rooms during the period, OCA secretary Asirbad Behera told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_1697673” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture. Getty[/caption] “An all-India doctors’ conference is scheduled in the state capital Bhubaneswar from October 13 and hence all the rooms were booked. Although the team hotel was booked, we needed an additional 250 rooms to accomodate other officials and TV crew. The Board has confirmed the change and they will soon issue a release,” Behera said. The West Indies will begin their six weeks tour with a five-match ODI series beginning in Kochi on October 8, followed by the one-off T20I and a three-match Test series from October 30 in Hyderabad. The OCA top official also said the venue would get a priority in hosting an ODI in the next domestic series. Barabati Stadium has in the past hosted IPL T20 but it will be for the first time the venue will host an T20 International. The last International match here – between India and Australia on October 26 last year – was washed out without a ball being bowled and there would be similar apprehensions this time around as well. PTI