India vs Australia: Barabati ODI unofficially called off, Odisha Cricket Association promises to refund money
OCA secretary Asirbad Behera in a statement said that the field was waterlogged and a final decision would be taken after the umpires inspect the ground on Saturday afternoon.
The fifth one-day International between India and Australia is likely to be called off on Saturday morning after the umpires inspection as there was no let up from rain for the last five days.
"We don't have the right to call the match off officially. But we have already announced the dates for ticket refund which obviously means the match has been offically abandoned," OCA secretary Asirbad Behera told PTI on Saturday.
The last one-day in Ranchi was also abandoned after 4.1 overs of India's chase of 296 as Australia continued to hold on to their 2-1 lead in the bilateral series.
Umpires Nigel Llong from ECB and S Ravi of India along with Match Referee Roshan Mahanama from SLC will take the call at 11am tomorrow, Behera added.
"It's likely that the players won't turn up tomorrow and only the officials would come to make the announcement."
The OCA secretary also has spoken to the Board president N Srinivasan to shift the three-day practice match between the touring West Indies and Uttar Pradesh CA from October 31 which now is likely to be moved to Mumbai.
"The team is scheduled to arrive on October 29 and looking at the ground condition, it's impossible to make it ready in time. I spoke to the president and put forward an official request to shift the practice match," Behera said on a disappointing note.
The OCA, which is hosting an International match after two years, is set to lose about Rs 3 crores, Behera said.
"We are hopeful to recover it through the insurance."
OCA paid a sum of RS 3 lakh to insure ground and properties of the Barabati Stadium for a whopping sum of Rs 20 crore.
Giving a break-up of the insurance components, Behera said the stadium has been insured for Rs 5 crore for standard fire and peril policy while the spectators and visitors have been covered under public liability insurance policy for Rs 7 crore.
The special contingency insurance policy would cover the remaining Rs 8 crore, he added.
The Barabati Staidum hosted the last ODI on November 29, 2011 when India won against the West Indies by one wicket.
The venue turned out to be jinxed for both the teams as the last match between India and Australia was too abandoned without a single bowl being bowled exactly about 17 years back on October 27, 1996.
Both teams now travel to Nagpur for the sixth and penultimate ODI at Jamtha on October 30.
The series will conclude in Bangalore on November 2