What did Sri Lankan official say after inspecting Odisha’s Barabati?

Cuttack: Sri Lankan cricket board officials today expressed satisfaction with the facilities and infrastructure at Barabati Stadium in Odisha’s Cuttack ahead of the T20 international in December this year.

Head of International Cricket of Sri Lanka Cricket Chandima Mapatuna and members of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) paid a visit to the only cricket stadium in the state hosting international cricket matches here.

“There is nothing new. There have been international matches being played here. So, I don’t think there is going to be a problem. This is not a new ground for us. We have played here. I am sure it will be upto the standards. Right now, it is upto the standards of international venue,” Chandima Mapatuna told reporters here.

The Sri Lankan official was accompanied by Sumeet Mallapurkar, assistant manager cricket operations of BCCI, former Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) president Ashirbad Behera and other members of the local cricket body.

Mapatuna yesterday visited Jadavpur University’s Salt Lake campus and Eden Gardens where the team will play a warm-up and first Test in Kolkata.

The visiting team will be arriving in India on November 9 where it will play nine matches.

The tour will feature three Test matches, three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and as many Twenty20 Internationals (T20I).

The visitors will start with a warm-up match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 11-13 before the opening Test at the same venue from November 16-20.

The second Test will take place in Nagpur from November 24-28 while the third and final Test will be held here from December 2-6.

The ODI series will tee off with the first encounter in Dharamsala on December while the second will be held in Mohali (December 13) and Vizag (December 17).

The T20I series will start on December 20 in Cuttack with Indore (December 22) and Mumbai (December 24) hosting the second and third matches, respectively.