Bhubaneswar, April 26: Hockey fever is set to make a comeback to the city barely two months after Kalinga Stadium hosted matches of the third edition of Hockey India League (HIL).

The fans, however, would be cheering for Team India instead of the home franchise Kalinga Lancers.

Hockey fans are happy following the announcement of a bilateral series between India and Japan scheduled to take place next month.

Four matches will held on May 3, May 5, March 7 and March 9. All the matches will begin at 7pm. The stadium had hosted the Champions Trophy in December last year.

Director of sports Ananta Kishore Jena said that such events would help in promotion of sports in the state.

"We are fully prepared to host the bilateral series and will start cleaning the stadium shortly," said Jena.

The 25 probables announced for the series include only one player from Odisha, Birendra Lakra.

"Though we are happy that Team India would be playing in the city, the fact that only one player from the state has been included in the list of probables is a somewhat disappointing. Still, we will cheer for the national side and are hopeful of a series victory by Team India," said Soubhagya Sahu, a hockey fan.

Officials in the state sports and youth services department are looking forward to a good turnout at the matches.

"We had witnessed good turnout of spectators during the Champions Trophy matches involving the home side. Even the tickets for the semi-final match between India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy were sold out. So we are hopeful that the series would be a successful one," said a department official.

The stadium has a seating capacity of 7,000.