Thiruvananthapuram: At long last it looks settled: the India-Windies one day international, scheduled for 1 November this year, will take place at the Sports Hub Stadium in Kariavatom, Thiruvananthapuram.
The decision was arrived at a meeting between Sports Minister AC Moideen and officials of Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), following the controversy on conducting the match at Kochi. The final KCA decision in this regard will be formally taken at the KCA meeting scheduled for 24 March, said KCA Secretary Jayesh George to mediamen.
The Government had intervened in the matter and advised that the match be moved to Thiruvananthapuram from Kochi. Jayesh George also informed that Kochi will have a new cricket stadium, a demand that has for long been raised by KCA and the government has now given the green signal for that.
George also commented that the comments by Sachin Tendulkar and Shashi Tharoor on the subject were not correct. He said that Sachin, who asked for not holding the cricket match in Cochin, was arguing so because he was the owner of Kerala Blasters (football club for ISL), whereas Sachin does not know how a cricket pitch is made. Digging a wicket is not like demolishing a building, and here it is not demolished entirely. He added that Sachin may know Mumbai's DY Patil stadium where both cricket and football are played.
The KCA official lamented that they have the anxiety of the Kochi cricket venue being lost. KCA had been constructing the pitch since 1996 to get it to what it is now. The Kochi stadium has been set up at a great cost whereas the venue in Thiruvananthapuram is still to get several essential facilities, like 60 corporate boxes. He pointed out that T-20 and ODI needed different facilities, and to make Thiruvananthapuram ready for ODI, more money will have to be spent. KCA was more concerned about such expenditure requirement and getting the required facility ready in time.
George mentioned that both stadia had the same capacity of 40,000, but Thiruvananthapuram had the disadvantage of being at one end of the state. He also drew attention to the fact that Reliance which conducts ISL can, if it wishes, construct several stadia of this kind.