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‘Kerala aayiye’: Tharoor appeals after Ind vs SA washout, BCCI’s Rajeev Shukla says ‘dhyan dena padega’ | Video
This comes after the fourth T20 international game between India and South Africa in Lucknow was cancelled due to fog on Wednesday.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday urged BCCI Executive Board vice president Rajeev Shukla to shift winter schedule cricket matches to South India, emphasising his home state, Kerala.
This comes after the fourth T20 international game between India and South Africa in Lucknow was cancelled due to fog on Wednesday.
“Rajiv ji, I was saying that apart from scheduling matches in North India in January, Kerala aaiye (come to Kerala),” Tharoor said to Shukla while talking to the media.
“Woh scheduling mein dhiyan dena padega (the scheduling will have to be looked into). From December 15 to January 15, can we allocate matches to South India instead of North India? Kerala already gets them; there is a rotation policy in place,” Shukla replied.
When Rajiv Shukla said all matches during the said period cannot be given to Kerala alone, Shashi Tharoor laughed and said, “Humaare liye accha rahega naa (it will be good for us)”.
While speaking to the media, the Thiruvananthapuram MP stated that matches in the winter period should be held in Southern India, as the region doesn't have a fog problem.
"If the ball is not visible, how will we play? That is what I am saying—come to South India, where this issue of pollution does not exist at all. There is no fog here. The ball will be clearly visible, we will play well, and cricket fans will not have any reason to be upset," PTI quoted him as saying.
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What did Rajiv Shukla say on scheduling earlier?
The fourth T20I of the five-match series between India and South Africa was abandoned due to excessive fog at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday. India leads the T20I series 2-1, with one more match to play.
Earlier speaking to ANI, Shukla had said that matches between December 15 and January 15 could be moved to South or West India.
"The match had to be cancelled due to fog. The people were upset about it. We will need to review the scheduling of matches between 15 December to 15 January in north India to determine whether we need to shift them to south India or west India. Domestic matches are also being affected due to fog. It is a serious issue," he had said.
