Rains travel with India-Australia teams to Barabati stadium

BHUBANESWAR: Even as India and Australia teams arrived in Bhubaneswar on Thursday afternoon amid cheers of cricket enthusiasts and were given a warm welcome, rain continued to play havoc at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack for the fifth day on the trot.
The teams are scheduled to play the fifth ODI of the 7-match series in Cuttack on Saturday.
While curator Pankaj Patnaik and his 50 odd staff members were elated to see clear skies in the morning and were working on war footing to get the outfield in order at the Barabati Stadium, after 9.30 am it started pouring again which continued till late afternoon, much to the frustration of the groundstaff.
Quizzed about the ground conditions, Patnaik said, "We are helpless if rain does not stop. The continuous rain for last 4-5 days has even raised water level of the drain outside the stadium. So even if we pump out water from the ground, where does it go?"
Asked if it would be possible to have nets at the venue on Friday, the curator said, "It would not be possible on the outfield. But we have five pitches at the centre and we can devote two of those for practice if there is no rain from Friday."
He informed that the pitch and the area within the 30-yard circle has been covered. If there is hot sun on Friday and no rain there would be no problem in having a full match.