The fifth one-day International between India and Australia is likely to be called off on Saturday morning after the umpires inspection as there was no let up from rain for the last five days.
"We don't have the right to call the match off officially. But we’ve already announced the dates for ticket refund which obviously means the match has been offically abandoned," OCA secretary Asirbad Behera said. The last one-day in Ranchi was also abandoned after 4.1 overs of India's chase of 296 as Australia continued to hold on to their 2-1 lead in the bilateral series.
Umpires Nigel llong from ECB and S Ravi of India along with Match Referee Roshan Mahanama from SlC will take the call at 11am on Saturday, Behera added. "It's likely that the players won't turn up tomorrow and only the officials would come to make the announcement."
The OCA secretary has also spoken to the Board president N Srinivasan to shift the three-day practice match between the touring West Indies and Uttar Pradesh CA from October 31 which now is likely to be moved to Mumbai. "The team is scheduled to arrive on October 29 and looking at the ground condition, it's impossible to make it ready in time. I spoke to the president and put forward an official request to shift the practice match," Behera said.
The OCA, which is hosting an International match after two years, is set to lose about Rs 3 crores. "We’re hopeful to recover it through the insurance," Behera said. The Barabati Staidum hosted the last ODI on November 29, 2011 when India won against the West Indies by one wicket.
The venue turned out to be jinxed for both the teams as the last match between India and Australia was too abandoned without a single bowl being bowled exactly about 17 years back on October 27, 1996. Both teams now travel to Nagpur for the sixth ODI at Jamtha on October 30. The series will conclude in Bangalore on November 2.