Cuttack: India got off to a fiery start, chasing 305, and skipper Rohit Sharma was finally on song, hitting three sumptuous sixes off England pacers, only to be interrupted due to floodlight failure in the seventh over, leaving players from both sides frustrated.
The floodlight malfunction stopped the India-England’s 2nd ODI match in the second innings at Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium as the captain and Shubman Gill raced to 47 for no loss. The problem was with just one of the floodlight towers past the long-on boundary. The bulbs kept flickering initially, and some of those went off, hampering overall visibility. The problem seemed to have been rectified after about five minutes, only for it to recur. Play resumed after a few minutes, but after one ball was bowled in the seventh over, most of the bulbs went off.
After a long chat with the umpire, both teams decided to go off the field until the issue was resolved.
Explaining the cause of the fiasco, Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Sanjay Behera said, “Each floodlight tower had two generators as backup. During the match, one of the generators for the affected floodlight tower malfunctioned. When we attempted to switch to the second generator, we found that a vehicle used for transporting players was parked between the tower and the generator. We had to contact the driver and ask him to move the vehicle before the power supply could be restored.”
Amid all the excitement of hosting an ODI after 6 years, the usually lengthy pause in the game due to floodlight failure came as an embarrassment for the government in Odisha. Sports Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, who along with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and other senior ministers was present at the stadium, said, “An explanation will be sought from the OCA over the floodlight glitch. It happened despite taking all precautions and making elaborate prior arrangements by the OCA.”
Congress’ Barabati-Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous condemned the glitch for which the international match was disrupted for some time. “What happened at the Barabati stadium today is very unfortunate. An impartial investigation should be conducted,” she added.
(With inputs from agencies)
