It has been over a month since Odisha suffered the embarrassment of floodlight failure during the India-England 2nd ODI at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on 9 February 2025. As the host, Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) should have been answerable to its parent body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC), for the chaotic incident that disrupted the match for over 30 minutes and caused inconvenience to players as well as spectators.

It is not yet known whether the BCCI sought an explanation from the OCA, let alone taking any action. But it was the Department of Sports & Youth Services (DSYS), Government of Odisha, which initiated prompt action as it issued a show-cause notice to OCA the next day, seeking a response from the State cricket body within 10 days.

Now the question is why the DSYS is sitting silent over the issue after receiving the explanation from OCA within the stipulated date? If any action has been taken, why is it not being made public like the show-cause notice? Do the DSYS think that the murky incident over lights will not last long in public memory?

It may be noted that OCA is an autonomous body and does not come under the administrative control of the State Government. Being a stinking-rich sports body, it also does not receive grant-in-aid from DSYS. Then how come OCA is answerable to DSYS?

Though OCA made a huge profit from the ODI, it paid no tax to the government. On the contrary, the government spent a huge amount of taxpayers money for the supervision of the match. The State administration, including the Chief Minister, Sports Minister, Chief Secretary and the Sports Secretary, left no stone unturned to make the match a grand success.

The BJP Government also gained a lot from the match in terms of complimentary passes and publicity mileage. Most of the ministers, MLAs, top party leaders and bureaucrats enjoyed the match from VIP stands. The Chief Minister also availed the opportunity to celebrate the victory of the Indian team with captain Rohit Sharma. But when something went wrong, the government put the entire blame on the OCA.

Did the government ask OCA to show cause in order to hide its own folly and save its skin after the incident drew sharp criticism and tarnished the image of the State? Moreover, the match also featured many more controversies, including black marketing of tickets, poor facilities for paying spectators and journalists covering the event.

According to OCA, the capacity of the stadium is 44,574. But it is alleged that around 60,000 people were present inside Barabati Stadium for the high-voltage match. The question is: did the government make any effort to find out the actual size of the crowd that day? Were all the seats of the stadium, including the temporary stands and special enclosures numbered? Did all the people inside the stadium carry tickets or passes?

According to OCA, 4000 tickets were sold to the general public online and 12,000 through stadium counters. If the capacity of the stadium was around 44,500, who occupied the remaining 28,500 seats? It is alleged that around 20,000 complimentary passes were issued for the match and passes were sold in black market.

When the cricket loving public and upcoming cricketers find it almost impossible to afford a ticket, why such a huge number of complimentary passes were given and to whom? Will the State Government also look into these issues?

Afterall, if the DSYS gave OCA 10 days to show cause, how much time the Department would need to make its findings public? Hopefully, the new State Government, which has announced several initiatives for the promotion of sports in the Stat, will honour its accountability on the floodlight fiasco.