CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday inaugurated a new cricket stadium at Thalaivasal in Salem district that will soon host Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
The stadium, spread across 16 acres with five pitches, was built at a cost of Rs 30 million and will soon host IPL matches, Times of India quotes Palaniswami as having said at a media interaction during the .
The stadium, located in Kariveppilapatti, was inaugurated in the presence of former India captain Rahul Dravid, former BCCI chairman and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association supremo N Srinivasan, TNCA president Rupa Gurunath (Srinivasan’s daughter) and other officials.
Speaking at the event, Srinivasan said that this year, Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) matches will be played in the new stadium. So far, TNPL matches have been hosted only in two stadiums apart from Chepauk – Dindigul and Tirunelveli. “I am going to ask Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Stephen Fleming and others to come and see the ground here,” he said, amidst rousing cheers from the audience. He also said that they will bring IPL to the new stadium and added, “And MS Dhoni will lead CSK here. When you are chief minister this should happen.”
Palaniswami, in turn promised that the state government would provide all support needed to host IPL matches in the new stadium. “As far as I know, IPL matches have not been conducted in any place other than Chennai in Tamil Nadu. So, Salem would turn out to be the first city to host the matches outside the state capital. The state government would extend all support for it,” he said.
