Virat Kohli and his boys are set to stay in Pune till Wednesday morning even though the first ODI in the city got over on Sunday and India, and England is scheduled to play the second ODI in Cuttack on Thursday.
With second ODI to be played at Barabati Stadium, both the teams are still stuck in Pune as there is an unavailability of hotel rooms in Cuttack. The reason? Because no hotel in Cuttack has vacant rooms for the Indian Cricket Team to be accommodated. As bizarre as this sounds, it’s true. Due to the ongoing wedding season, all the hotels are booked in advance and thus the Indian team is forced to practice in Pune itself.
The Odisha Cricket Association is being criticized for such poor planning of the Cricket match however the Secretary of the Association Ashirwad Behera has clarified that the Association does not have any control over hotel bookings.
Orissa Cricket Association secretary Ashirbad Behera said: “The team will be coming to Cuttack on Wednesday morning at 11:30 am and train around 4 p.m. The hotel is overbooked till Tuesday, and there are no rooms available for the teams. But rooms are available from Wednesday and so the delay in the travel plans.”
OCA secretary added “Everything is in order and we are hoping that the match will be a great success just like the first ODI in Pune. As for the hotels, we can’t help when it comes to these things. We can only book rooms when we have it available.”
Teams are scheduled to reach Cuttack on January 18 i.e., Wednesday at 11:30 AM and net sessions are set to take place from 4:00 PM.