Members of BCCI team inspect the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Thursday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Feb. 27: A three-member committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday took stock of the facilities at Barabati Stadium.

Earlier, the Odisha Cricket Association’s (OCA) had proposal to make the stadium a permanent Test venue.

The committee, led by chairman Anirudha Choudhry, inspected the stadium, dressing rooms, media box, pitch, outfield and other indoor facilities today.

The BCCI had earlier constituted the committee to review the infrastructure at various stadiums in small cities to draw more people to the Test matches. The overall response towards Test cricket has not been satisfactory in big cities.

The committee has already reviewed the available infrastructure in Ranchi, as part of the ongoing proposals to increase the number of Test venues from existing 10 to 15.

The committee members have expressed satisfaction with the facilities at Barabati Stadium and a report in this regard will be submitted to the BCCI for final approval.

“The stadium has already hosted a number of One-Day International cricket matches and today we have reviewed the infrastructure and facilities keeping in mind the proposals for a Test venue here,” said Choudhry.

Choudhry also said that the OCA had done a commendable job towards development of necessary infrastructure at Barabati Stadium having a seating capacity of around 45,000.

The OCA had earlier submitted a proposal for considering Barabati Stadium as a permanent Test venue way back in 2002.

The last Test match was played at Barabati between India and New Zealand in 1995-96. The first Test match was played between India and Sri Lanka in 1987 even though the stadium was accorded with an international venue in 1982.

So far, 18 One-Day International matches, a couple of T20 matches, ICC Women’s World Cup and the Celebrity Cricket League have been played at Barabati Stadium.

However, a lot of factors and facilities are the main criteria for according Test status to any particular stadium, including distance between the players’ hotel and the ground, quality of hotels and as well as the infrastructure at the stadium.

“A final decision in according a Test venue status to Barabati rests with the BCCI. However, I am satisfied with the infrastructure here and the connectivity between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar has become much better,” Choudhry added.

The OCA is also hopeful to bring Test matches to Odisha on rotation basis as Barabati Stadium has the requisite infrastructure, while communication and a lot of accommodation facilities have also come up inside the stadium complex as well as in the city.

“The road connectivity is not at all an issue as the time taken to travel from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack has reduced, while it is expected to reduce further owing to the expansion of the highway and construction of a second bridge,” said OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera.

Behera said that players would be accommodated in Bhubaneswar, while other 150 officials and support staff could be accommodated at various hotels that have come up in Cuttack and also at the OCA club at the Barabati Stadium complex.