KOCHI: Acting on expected lines, the Kerala Cricket Association has reportedly agreed, in principle, to host the India vs West Indies one-day international allotted to the KCA on November 1, at SportsHub Thiruvananthapuram.
The decision comes after the KCA officials had a discussion with state sports minister AC Moideen on the issue on Thursday, Times of India reports. The KCA officials acceded to the minister’s request to avoid controversies and accepted his decision to have the match in Thiruvananthapuram.
“We have agreed to the request from sports minister and in principle agreed to have Windies ODI in Thiruvananthapuram. The decision has to be ratified at the AGM of KCA on Saturday,” Jayesh George, KCA secretary, told TOI.
The KCA’s climbdown was always on the cards once cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar added his voice to the mounting opposition in the state over its plans to host the India-West Indies ODI at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, which is also home to the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC, rather than in Thiruvananthapuram.
Tendulkar on Tuesday said hosting the match could damage the FIFA approved world class football turf, which along with other upgrades to the stadium ahead of the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup had come at a cost of Rs 250 million. If the KCA decides to go ahead with its ill-conceived plan to host the ODI there, the turf will have to be dug up to lay the cricket pitch.
“Worried about the potential damage to the FIFA approved World class Football turf in Kochi. Urge the KCA to take the right decision where cricket (Thiruvananthapuram) and Football (Kochi) can happily co-exist,” Sachin tweeted.
Tendulkar said he has taken up the matter with the BCCI.
“Urged Shri. Vinod Rai who has promised to look into the matter. Hoping that neither the cricket nor the football fans are disappointed. @BCCI @KCAcricket,” he tweeted.
Earlier Wednesday, former Union minister Shashi Tharoor had also weighed in on the controversy alleging that the association’s move was ‘suspect’.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he has already spoken to Rai against the KCA’s “bizarre” decision to transfer a ODI match from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi.
“He has promised to review the matter. KCA’s motive is highly suspect”, Tharoor tweeted.
“Turf laid for top-class football would have to be dug up, while a cricket-ready SportsHub stadium in Trivandrum, the best in India, lies idle. Who gains from this suspect decision?’, he tweeted.
