India-Windies ODI shifted to Thiruvananthapuram

KCA's decision to stage the India vs West Indies ODI in Kochi had been criticised heavily.

A view of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.

The India-West Indies one-day international allotted to Kerala and scheduled to be held on November 1 this year will be played in the capital.

The provisional decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) office-bearers here on Thursday after having discussion with the State Sports Minister, A. C. Moideen.

Read: KCA's choice to host ODI in Kochi's Nehru Stadium draws ire

The involvement of the Sports Minister came after a virtual war broke out on the social media when the KCA without stating the obvious (of realising the large amount of money due to it from the Greater Cochin Development Authority) explored the possibility of holding the match in the GCDA-owned Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kalloor, Kochi.

In a press release, issued later, the KCA president, Ronklin John and secretary, Jayesh George, said a final decision with regard to the match will be taken at the KCA AGM to be held in Kumarakom, Kottayam, on March 25. “It will be thereafter that we would be writing to the BCCI on the exact venue of the match,” they said.

Further, it was also stated that the Sports Minister has promised the KCA delegation all help from the part of the Government to establish a cricket stadium in Kochi.

The KCA secretary, privately complained, that it was the handiwork of certain vested interests which caused all the unnecessary controversy, and what the KCA had explored was only the possibility of hosting the international matches allotted to it in Kochi and the Sports Hub, Thiruvananthapuram, alternatively.