Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi is expected to remain a wholly football stadium. (File photo)
Pressure applied from Sachin Tendulkar, politician Shashi Tharror and numerous from across the corners of the country has had its effect with the scheduled ODI between India and West Indies for November being moved from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram. As per a Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) official, the move will be announced soon.
As per the original plan, the pitch of the 60,000-capacity Jawaharlal Nehru stadium was to be dug up for the first cricket game in four years. The venue has since been used by ISL side Kerala Blasters, co-owned by Tendulkar, and was refurbished for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Blasters’ players CK Vineeth and Iain Hume had pleaded with the KCA not to ‘dig up’ the stadium in Kochi for a one-off cricket match that could undo months of hard work in preparing a world-class football turf. Instead, they argued, much like many netizens, that the match should be shifted to Karyavattom in Thiruvananthapuram, where a traditional cricket stadium sits waiting.
Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, spoke to BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai asking him to denounce the ‘bizarre’ decision of the KCA to hold the match in Kochi. “Thanks for the outpouring of support for my firm opposition to KCA’s shifting the WI ODI to Kochi. 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.
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A top KCA official, however, disclosed to IndianExpress.com that it is not about cricket vs football but about the agreement the association has with the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) – the stadium’s owners. The lease of the stadium for use by KCA was renewed in 2014 for a period of 30 years. Before the new stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, all the international cricket matches in the state used to be held in Kochi.
The meeting between GCDA, KCA and ISL officials on Wednesday seemed to have been the venue for the breakthrough into the turf war.