The proposed limited overs series between India and South Africa women's team has run into rough weather. The Kerala Cricket Association has conveyed to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) its inability to host the tournament.
The matches were scheduled to be held at the Greenfield Sports Hub Stadium in Thiruvanthapuram in the first week of March, but after a meeting on Monday, KCA stated that the stadium authorities have allocated the ground for an army recruitment rally at the same time.
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“KCA had the full support of the Kerala government and the Sports Minister, but schedule clash became the hurdle in hosting the matches. If the state government doesn’t intervene, the Greenfield Stadium will soon become unusable,” KCA president Sajan Varghese and secretary Sreejith Nair jointly said in a statement.
Speaking to this publication, Varghese admitted that it was unable to obtain a No Objection Certificate from the state government. "I met the chief secretary on Saturday to discuss whether the army rally could be shifted to some other grounds. But they did not agree. So, we had to write to the BCCI that it will not be possible for us to host the tournament," the KCA chief stated.
The BCCI officials had earlier told Sportstar that it was exploring all the options to start bilateral series for the women's team. "We are working on a bilateral series. But we have to wait for the series to be finalised,” BCCI’s treasurer Arun Dhumal had said.
Talking about the possibility of Thiruvananthapuram hosting the matches, Dhumal had said: “It is still work in progress. Kerala had cases of COVID-19, so we need to see how things go and then act accordingly."
With KCA now backing out, there is a possibility that Bengaluru could host the tournament. However, Board is currently in conversation with a few other associations and a decision is expected soon.
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