Putting the water bottle controversy to rest, the Barabati Stadium here has earned the honour to host the international cricket matches again as the BCCI on Thursday announced the schedule of India’s international cricket calendar for the 2016-17 season.
The visiting England team would play its second One-Day International (ODI) match at the Barabati Stadium likely in January 2017. A report said England would play its three ODIs in Pune, Cuttack and Kolkata. A suspense over Barabati Stadium to play host to an international cricket match mounted after the unruly behaviour of the crowd during the India-South Africa T-20 match in November last when spectators of a particular gallery threw water bottles into the ground.
Although the Barabati was eyeing to host a Test match, it is believed that the venue shall have to wait for some more time. The venue last time hosted a Test match way back in 1995. OCA secretary Asirbad Behera is hopeful that the BCCI would soon consider the request of allotting a Test match here during the Bangladesh tour to India next year.