Cuttack: The Barabati Stadium, built as a multi-purpose facility post Independence, was inaugurated in 1958. Since the 1980s, however, it has been mainly used for cricket with the exception of some football activity from time to time.
The stadium, located near the historic Barabati Fort in Cuttack city, hosted a number of touring sides such as the MCC, the West Indies team and Australia before finally getting a chance to stage an international match – in January 1982.
In 43 years since then, the Barabati has staged 2 Test matches, 19 ODIs and 3 T20 Internationals, and witnessed several moments of cricketing excellence and a few forgettable incidents as well.
As India and England prepare to cross swords in the second ODI at this iconic venue on February 9, Odisha Bytes looks back at the Barabati highs and lows.
Third ODI venue in India
The Indian cricket board took a long time to embrace the game’s One-Day format. Our team first played an ODI match in 1974, but it was not before 1982 that a 50-overs-a-side international match was played on Indian soil. Odisha’s Cuttack had the privilege of hosting the final match of the series, following games in Ahmedabad and Jalandhar. So the Barabati Stadium will always be remembered for being only the third ODI venue in India. The match was doubly memorable as the two sides had won a game each and the series honours were up for grabs at Cuttack. Thanks to legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar’s match-winning 71 and Sandeep Patil’s 64, India chased down the target of 231 comfortably with 5 wickets to spare, thus winning the series 2-1.
Kapil Dev’s milestone 300th Test wicket
Just like the first ODI, Barabati’s maiden Test match in January 1987 will forever be etched in Odisha cricket lovers’ memories. India rode on a brilliant 166 by Dilip Vengsarkar and a quickfire 60 by skipper Kapil Dev to pile up 400 in the first innings versus Sri Lanka. On a low-bounce pitch, Kapil and the spin trio of Maninder Singh, Shivlal Yadav and Ravi Shastri combined to thrash the Lankans by an innings and 67 runs in the third Test. Kapil bagged 4 wickets in the first innings to reach 299, before becoming the first Indian bowler to climb Mt 300 with the dismissal of Rumesh Ratnayake in the second innings. Kapil was adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round show.
India’s happy hunting ground
India have played 17 ODIs at Barabati Stadium so far, and won 13 of those. The men in blue have beaten England and the West Indies 4 times each, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe twice each and Kenya once. India’s 4 defeats at Cuttack have come against – England twice, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The good news is that India’s last defeat at Barabati was two decades ago – in November 2003, against New Zealand.
Two-time World Cup host
The Barabati Stadium has had the good fortune of being chosen as ODI World Cup host twice. In the 1987 Reliance World Cup, Australia beat Zimbabwe by 70 runs in a Group A fixture. The next time India staged the World Cup (jointly with Pakistan and Sri Lanka), Cuttack was allotted an India game. The Mohammed Azharuddin-led team thrashed Kenya by 7 wickets in a Group A fixture at Barabati Stadium, with Sachin Tendulkar smashing an unbeaten 127.
Shastri, Srikkanth’s record opening stand in vain
Cuttack’s second international game, on December 27, 1984, produced a humdinger against England. Asked to bat first after David Gower called correctly at the toss against Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Krishnamachari Srikkanth took it upon themselves to counter the English attack. Shastri scored 102 and Srikkanth fell for 99 as the two put on 188 for the opening wicket – a world record at that time. As bad light ended play after 46 overs, with England on 241/6, the visiting team was declared winners as they were 0.08 runs ahead of the required rate at that stage. The Duckworth/Lewis system had not been introduced by ICC at that time.
747 runs in a day, Yuvi-Dhoni on rampage
The last time India and England faced off at Barabati Stadium, the fans were treated to an extraordinary batting feast. On January 19, 2017, England captain Eoin Morgan’s decision to field first seemed vindicated as Chris Woakes reduced India to 25/3 in the fifth over. Skipper MS Dhoni then joined Yuvraj Singh, and the two demolished the English attack in a 256-run partnership. Yuvraj plundered a career-best 150 off 127 balls and Dhoni smashed 134 off 122 to guide India to a mammoth 381/6 in 50 overs. In a thrilling reply, Morgan (102 off 81), Jason Roy (82 off 73) and Moeen Ali (55 off 43) gave India a huge scare before England stopped at 366/8. The match aggregate of 747 runs in 100 overs was the fourth highest in an ODI at that time (now it’s ninth on the list).
Maiden T20I turns into night of shame
Cuttack’s first T20 International, on October 5, 2015, should have been a happy occasion. But it turned out into a forgettable night for India and Odisha. A crowd of around 45,000 which had filled the stadium on a humid evening couldn’t accept India’s poor performance against South Africa and gave vent to their frustration by throwing water bottles and whatever they could lay their hands on, leading to three interruptions. The first one, after India were bowled out by South Africa for just 92 in 17.2 overs, delayed the start of the South Africa innings. Play then had to be halted after 11 overs as the fans were unhappy with South Africa cruising to victory. It resulted in a 27-minute stoppage. Despite repeated appeals and efforts by police, some unruly fans again hurled bottles to the ground, leading to a 24-minute halt in play. Some of the stands had to be cleared before South Africa could finally complete a 6-wicket win over Dhoni’s men. Sunil Gavaskar called for a ban on the venue, but the Odisha Cricket Association was lucky to escape sanctions as the BCCI allotted Cuttack an ODI 15 months after that deplorable incident.
South Africa deal a double whammy
In June 2022, the last time Barabati staged an international game, the home team had an opportunity to avenge the 2015 T20I humiliation at the hands of South Africa at the same venue. But the men in blue, this time led by Rishabh Pant, came up short once again. The South Africans restricted India to 148/6 and then survived Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s triple strike to win by 4 wickets, thanks largely to a scintillating 81 off 46 balls. The result may have gone the other way, the crowd management was better this time, and there was no untoward incident to tarnish Cuttack and Odisha’s reputation.
