CUTTACK: Just as Rohit Sharma looked to shrug off his lack of form in front of a houseful crowd at the Barabati on Sunday, the India captain’s charge and the second ODI match here was halted for about 35 minutes due to a floodlight failure which caused major embarrassment for the host Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) as well as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
At the time of the interruption after 6.1 overs, India were cruising at 48 for none in their quest of 305 with Rohit unbeaten on 29 off 18 balls with a boundary and three towering sixes. Gill was on 17 off 19 balls.
One of the eight floodlights near the clock tower went off at 6:15pm. It came on for a few seconds at 6:21pm. As the players and match officials started to take their positions anticipating the restart, with pacer Saqib Mahmood about to bowl to Rohit, the lights on that stand went off again. After waiting for 2-3 minutes in the middle of the park, the players and umpires were forced to go off and cool their heels in the dugouts.
The 45,000-strong crowd turned the waiting minutes into a spectacle, grooving to hit numbers and loud music while turning their mobile torches on.
Only cricket was left out of the ground due to the humiliating situation.
Asked about the reason behind the long delay in restoring the floodlight following the disruption, an OCA official reasoned, “The generator attached to the floodlight malfunctioned, so the lights were off on that particular stand beside the clock tower. Now we have got the back-up generator on. It took time to change the connection from one generator to the other, which caused the delay. Now it’s OK.”
Some OCA officials also stated that all the eight floodlights have undergone regular testing for the past five days to be match ready, which is a general practice at any venue.