Barabati Stadium issue: Sunil Gavaskar cannot decide on venue, says OCA

The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) today reacted sharply to Sunil Gavaskar's plea for banning international cricket at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack for unruly crowd behaviour, saying the former India captain has no authority to take a decision on the matter

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) today reacted sharply to Sunil Gavaskar's plea for banning international cricket at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack for unruly crowd behaviour, saying the former India captain has no authority to take a decision on the matter.


Sunil Gavaskar

"Sunil Gavaskar is not the authority to take a decision about venue of international cricket matches. He is just a commentator," OCA secretary Asirbad Behera said.

Slamming the crowd behaviour and the police response to it during the second T20 match between India and South Africa on Monday, Gavaskar has said Barabati Stadium should be banned as an international venue for two years.

Angry spectators hurled missiles, mainly water bottles, into the ground after India were skittled out for 92 against South Africa in the match, disrupting play.

Behera was speaking to reporters after a meeting called by state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to discuss the incident at Barabati.

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