Cuttack, Aug. 2: The Odisha Cricket Association finds it difficult to host the T20 match between India and New Zealand on November 4 as Bali yatra is scheduled to begin on the same day.

According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India schedule, New Zealand will play three ODIs and three T20s from mid-October. The three ODIs will be held in Pune, Mumbai and Kanpur, while Delhi, Cuttack and Rajkot will host the T20s. The BCCI yesterday informed the association that the T20 match on November 4 had been allotted to Cuttack.

The association officials were excited as Cuttack had been allotted a second international match in a year after the India-England ODI on January 19. But, the excitement was short-lived when they realised that Bali yatra would come in the way. "We will not be able to host the India-New Zealand T20 match in Cuttack on November 4 as Bali yatra starts on the same day this year," the association's adhoc working committee chairman Dhiren Palai today.

Bali yatra is an annual week-long fair that starts every year on the Kartika Purnima day near the Barabati Stadium.

For centuries, the yatra near the Gadgadia Shiv Temple on the Mahanadi banks was limited to the adjacent Killa Maidan in front of the Barabati Fort gate. However in 1996, the government had extended the annual fair to the area within the river banks.

Nowadays, Bali yatra is organised over 37 acres, including 14 acres at the adjoining Killa Maidan and 23 acres on the Mahanadi banks. More than 60 per cent of around 1,500 kiosks that come up every year are allocated on the river banks.

"Holding an international match at that time at Barabati Stadium will not be possible as more than 10 lakh people throng to witness the yatra necessitating deployment of more than 45 platoons of police, along with quick action teams and rapid action forces. Besides, the district administration, which organises the yatra, remains on the tenterhooks for nearly a fortnight," Palai said.

The committee urged the board to swap any of the 22 other international matches from the three home series with Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

"We have told the board why we are unable to hold the T20 match between India and New Zealand on November 4. We have sought allotment of any other international match between October end and after November 20," Palai said.

The home season is scheduled to start mid-September with five ODIs against Australia, which will be played in Chennai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Indore and Calcutta. The Aussies will next play three T20 matches in Hyderabad, Ranchi and Guwahti.

India's home run will end with a series against Sri Lanka.