Barabati Stadium is a sports stadium located in the city of Cuttack, Odisha. It is one of the regular International cricketing venues and is the home of the state cricket team of Odisha. Even football matches have been held at the stadium. This ground is maintained and taken care of by Odisha Cricket Association. Kapil Dev took his 300th wicket in this very ground.
Capacity of Barabati Stadium
Barabati Stadium has a capacity of 45,000 and features a bowl-like structure for seating. It also was an alternate home venue for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014 and was an adopted venue by former Indian Premier League team Deccan Chargers. It is well equipped with floodlights and other facilities for hosting international matches.
History of Barabati Stadium
Barabati Stadium was built and established in 1958 by the Odisha Cricket Association. The stadium is said to be one of the oldest cricket grounds in India and hosted several matches. It hosted its very first Test match from 4th to 7th January 1987 between India and Sri Lanka. The first ODI was played in this ground on 27th January 1982, between India and England.
Major Matches in Barabati Stadium
Barabati Stadium hosted only the third One-Day International in this country, in January 1982, when India put it across England by 5 wickets to lift the series 2-1. The stadium has hosted a total of only two test matches, the first one being in 1987 and the last one being in 1995. The first match was between India and neighbour Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankans were greeted with an underprepared wicket affording vastly unpredictable bounce. Dilip Vengsarkar, then at the most dizzying heights of his career, made his highest Test score of 166, his 4th century in 8 Tests, when no other batsman on either side crossed 60. The Lankans were rolled over twice as India seized an innings and 67 run victory. The last one was a battle between India and New Zealand. A total of 18 ODIs have been played in the Barabati Stadium. The highest team score achieved here was by India against Sri Lanka, racking up a total of 400 runs. India has won one of the two Test matches played in this ground and has an 11win-4loss record in ODIs.
Barabati Stadium presently is not one of those regular Test venues but enjoys international status of hosting the ODI matches. It hosts T20 and ODI matches regularly. The most recent match held in the Barabati Stadium was a T20 between India and Sri Lanka on 20th December 2017.