Floodlight Failure Puts Odisha Association Under Spotlight, Explanation Sought 

The Odisha government has sought an explanation from the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) over a floodlight failure at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack that caused a 35-minute disruption of the game during the second ODI between India and England on Sunday. The issue arose in the seventh over of India’s innings when one of the six floodlight towers started flickering before shutting down completely. With India at 48 for no loss, captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill walked back to the dugout, followed by the England players, as play came to an abrupt halt.

“This incident led to about 30 minutes suspension of the match, causing inconvenience to players and spectators. The OCA is hereby directed to submit a detailed explanation for the cause of the disruption and identify the persons/agencies who were responsible for such lapses and outline the measures taken to prevent similar incidents in the future,” stated the letter, dated February 10, issued by the Odisha sports department.

The malfunction was reportedly caused by a generator failure linked to one of the floodlight towers. The Odisha sports department has now demanded a detailed report from the OCA, outlining the reasons behind the disruption, identifying those responsible, and listing measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The incident has cast doubts over OCA’s capability to host high-profile fixtures, particularly as this was the first international match at Barabati in six years.

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