KCA look to host India vs Australia ODI next year

Bengaluru, March 24: After being forced to shift the one-dayer between India and the West Indies to Thiruvananthapuram owing to external pressure, The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is worried over losing Kochi as a cricketing venue and is seeking the possibilities of staging an altogether different match - the ODI against Australia in February next year.

ODI SHIFTED TO THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

"The Kerala Cricket Association has approached the BCCI to know about the chances of hosting the one-dayer between India and Australia in February next year. We will consider this in the next meeting and the CoA approval too is needed," said a BCCI source.

"Yes, we have a precedent in this regard. The BCCI had swapped the venues between Cuttack and Thiruvananthapuram last year because there was a festival in Odisha. So, technically there is no issue in opting for a change of match. However, the venues for the matches against Australia have already been decided, so the BCCI will have to look for concerns of other venues as well and address them," he said.

The KCA is also reportedly concerned that rain may hamper the ODI between India and West Indies scheduled for November 1. The KCA may make a formal request in this regard after the association AGM on Saturday (March 24).

However, the KCA is far more concerned about the situation where they had to shift the one-dayer out of Kochi and do not want an encore of such situations in future.

The association may also initiate steps to ask all the authorities concerned - state government, BCCI and GCDA - to allot them land to build its own cricket stadium in Kochi as it does not want to loss Kochi as a cricketing venue because of its crowd pulling ability and other convenient infrastructure.