Cuttack, Sept. 21: The Odisha Cricket Association has managed to convince the Board of Control for Cricket in India to grant the permanent Test venue status to the Barabati Stadium here.

Association secretary Ashirbad Behera said the BCCI's annual general body meeting today approved to grant the permanent Test venue status to the stadium.

"It is a matter of pride for Odisha that after a gap of almost 21 years, Barabati has regained its Test venue status," Behera told The Telegraph over telephone.

The state cricket body had hoped that the stadium would host Test matches much before. However, the decision was delayed after the maiden T20 International match at the venue between India and South Africa in last October was marred by crowd trouble.

Besides, the travel time from Bhubaneswar to the stadium has of late reduced after the expansion of NH-5. It now takes between 20 and 25 minutes to reach Cuttack. The 30km distance between the two cities is expected to come down further once the bridge over the Kathajodi river is finished, thereby ensuring easy accessibility to the match venue. "As a former cricketer, I am very excited as young kids will now get the opportunity to watch the game and their players from close quarters," said former India player Shiv Sundar Das.

"The bottle-throwing incident was an isolated one and it was not the yardstick to judge the overall crowd, who love the game much more than any part of the country," said cricket enthusiast Somesh Agarwal.

The stadium has hosted 18 One Day Internationals and seven matches in the Indian Premier League.

The hospitality and crowd was praised at the international level when Barabati had played host to the Pakistan team during the ICC Women's World Cup in 2013.