Sachin Tendulkar appeals BCCI to use Thiruvananthapuram for Ind-WI ODI instead of Kochi

Sachin Tendulkar appeals BCCI to use Thiruvananthapuram for Ind-WI ODI instead of Kochi

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Sachin Tendulkar believes that the ODI match between India and Windies later this year should be played in Thiruvananthapuram on November 1 instead of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. He claimed that the cricket match could damage the FIFA-approved World class football turf in Kochi.

A full-fledged series between India and the Windies has been scheduled to be played in the latter part of this year and for that BCCI decided to give an ODI match to Kerala. But Kerala Cricket Association faced a big trouble for the Kochi ground as Kerala Football Association denied to allow them digging the turf. The ground is the home ground to ISL team Kerala Blasters which is co-owned by Tendulkar and that's why the Kerala football fans expected the Master Blaster to oppose the move against the turf. And quite expectedly, the fans got the support of the legendary Indian cricketer and in his Twitter post, he made an appeal to take a right decision.

On the social media platform, he also mentioned that he has taken up the matter with the CoA chief Vinod Rai.

Their concern is that playing a cricket match in Kochi could damage the world-class football turf and also affect the ISL season which normally begins in October every year and lasts for around four months. Earlier, on this move, former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor had already registered his views on the matter and doubted KCA's motive.

"He has promised to review the matter. KCA's motive is highly suspect", Tharoor had tweeted.

"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 asked in the tweet.

Kerala Blasters key player CK Vineeth also seemed disappointed with the move and said that the Kochi stadium is one of six in India that are approved by FIFA, a certification that will take immense effort to obtain again.

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