February 23rd 2025.
In response to the show cause notice issued by the Odisha government regarding the floodlight malfunction during the India-England ODI at Barabati Stadium on February 9, the Odisha Cricket Association has stated that they will take necessary measures to prevent any recurrence of such an incident. According to an official, the OCA has submitted its reply to the state government on Sunday.
During the second ODI between the two countries, the match was interrupted for almost half an hour as one of the floodlight towers was not functioning properly. This unexpected issue had caused great embarrassment to the state government, resulting in them issuing a show cause notice to the OCA on February 10. The government had given them a period of 10 days to respond.
Pankaj Lochan Mohanty, the newly elected president of OCA, addressed the media in Cuttack and stated that they have taken necessary actions to ensure that such a situation does not arise again during important matches. He further explained that they have decided to deploy two backup generators, one for each floodlight, as a precautionary measure. The previous president, Sanjay Behera, had informed the reporters that the delay in restoring the power was due to the players' bus being parked near the tower. The driver was not present in the bus at that time and had to be called to remove the vehicle, which caused a delay in reaching the backup generators to the tower.
Mohanty also mentioned that after the ODI, another important match was held till 1:30 am and there were no further disturbances. He also added that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not requested any report on this matter. Mohanty, who previously served as the OCA president from 2019 to 2022, took charge again after being elected unopposed for the post.
The position of OCA president was vacant following the resignation of Pranab Prakash Das, a leader of Biju Janata Dal, in December 2024. Das had been elected as the president in October 2022 but resigned after the BJD, which had been in power for 24 years, was defeated by the BJP in the 2024 assembly elections.
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