KOCHI: Kerala's wait to host World Cup cricket matches may be over soon. The Greenfield Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram is likely to be chosen as one of the venues for the ODI World Cup to be hosted by India in October-November.
Though the ICC is yet to release the schedule of the high-profile tournament, indications are that Thiruvananthapuram may host two-three World Cup matches. It is also learnt that all those games are likely to be scheduled for October as both the BCCI and the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) officials fear the threat of rain in November.
"When the ICC officially announces the ODI World Cup schedule, Thiruvananthapuram's name should figure in it. However, it (Thiruvananthapuram) is unlikely to get any matches involving India. Sri Lanka may play there and there could be a couple of other matches as well," said an official related to the development.
KCA officials, however, maintained that they are yet to get an official nod from BCCI. "It is true that we have requested the BCCI to consider Thiruvananthapuram as a World Cup venue. We are hopeful of getting some games too. However, we are still awaiting an official confirmation from the BCCI and ICC," KCA president Jayesh George, the former joint secretary of BCCI, told TOI.
Though the country has hosted three ODI World Cup tournaments earlier, Kerala was never considered as a venue. But the facilities at the Greenfield stadium, which has hosted five international matches, in its eight-year history had come in for effusive praise from the players and commentators earlier. The positive reviews from the players, both current and former, and the equation of the KCA president with the current crop of BCCI officials seems to have finally put Kerala on the World Cup cricketing map.
