Trivandrum ODI shifted to Kochi, Shashi Tharoor calls for a protest

Popular politician Shashi Tharoor is reportedly unhappy with the shifting of an ODI fixture from Trivandrum to Kochi. The venue is Trivandrum had made its debut last season when it hosted a T20I fixture between India and New Zealand. It was a positive start for the venue that showed great drainage skills to ensure that a match was possible on a day that was marred by rains.

Team India had registered a narrow win. On the other hand, the venue in Kochi last hosted an international match back in the year 2014. Since then, the venue in Kochi has also been hosting the football matches in the Indian Super League (ISL). The venue currently serves as the home ground for the Sachin Tendulkar-owned Kerala Blasters in the tournament.

Shashi Tharoor, much like everyone else, is concerned about the venue getting hampered with two sports being played at the venue. He has rightly voiced his concerns regarding the same and noted that the authorities in the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) must take actions to save the turf in Kochi. And hence, let the international fixture scheduled to be played on November 1 stay back in Trivandrum.

KCA’s stance

Meanwhile, the KCA secretary Jayesh George has noted that the BCCI has granted one match to the state association. Hence, they have every right to pick a venue of their choice for the game. And they wish to go ahead with Kochi as the venue. He is confident of restoring the ground for the football games as well.

Shashi Tharoor is absolutely not convinced with the stance of the KCA though. He took to micro blogging site Twitter to invite the cricket fans for a candlelight protest against the KCA. “Inviting all cricket fans of Thiruvananthapuram to assemble at 6.30 pm on March 24th, Saturday, at Martyrs Column, Palayam for a candlelight protest against KCA shifting the WestIndies ODI to Kochi. I’ll be there! #KeepCricketInTvm #SaveKochiTurf,” Tharoor wrote in his tweet.

Inviting all cricket fans of Thiruvananthapuram to assemble at 6.30 pm on March 24th, Saturday, at Martyrs Column, Palayam for a candlelight protest against KCA shifting the WestIndies ODI to Kochi. I'll be there! #KeepCricketInTvm #SaveKochiTurf

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 21, 2018

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