Vizag ODI abandoned; teams stay back in Delhi

The third One-Day International between India and the West Indies, scheduled in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, has been called off after the cyclone ‘Hudhud’ hit the port city, disrupting normal life and leaving the ACA-VDCA cricket stadium in completely unplayable condition.

Indian team’s media manager Dr RN Baba told PTI,’There is no match scheduled due to prevailing weather conditions. The players will be staying in Delhi only. We had a scheduled flight for Visakhapatnam on Monday at 12:55 pm in the afternoon but now it stands cancelled.’

Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) had informed BCCI about the unplayable conditions. ACA official CR Mohan said,’We have intimated BCCI about the current situation. The entire ground covers were on Sunday blown away in the afternoon after 1 pm when the winds were flowing at a speed of over 150 kmph per hour. It was a such a situation where we were not even able to go to the stadium to see what kind of damages have been done. The groundsmen could not be contacted. No way the match could have been possible.’ ‘The hotel where we were staying, we were told by the police authorities to move to the underground level for safety reasons. On Monday, if the situation improves, then along with police we will go to the ground to check the situation. We are worried about our groundstaff.’