The IPL Governing Council which met on Monday has decided that the homeground of the Indi Commandos will be Kochi itself.
There were efforts from some quarters to shift the venue to Ahmedabad. The reason cited for proposing a shift in the venue was the 36 percent entertainment tax to be levied by the Kochi Corporation and the revenue from the ticket sale. Later, the Kochi Corporation had decided to cut down the tax by 50 percent. Even then there were some doubts about the venue.
With the IPL Governing Council fixing Kochi as the venue, the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has expedited the renovation work of the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium. “We were certain that Kochi will be the venue. We had been following the schedule for completing the work of the stadium,” T C Mathew of the Kerala Cricket Association said.
The stadium will be ready by March 10, a month ahead of the match schedule, he said.
“The installation of floodlights will be completed within 10 days. Despite the heavy downpour which lasted about three hours last night, the ground was dry the next morning,” Mathew said.
All the equipment for the renovation of the stadium and pitch imported from Malaysia has already reached the stadium. There had been controversies regarding the Kochi IPL team ever since its conception. Now all the hurdles in its way have been cleared. T C Mathew said the schedule of the matches to be played in Kochi has already been declared.
The Indi Commandos will take on Chennai Super Kings on April 18, and the Deccan Chargers on April 27. The match will be played between Indi Commandos and Delhi Daredevils on April 30. The last match in the current edition of the IPL schedule to be held in Kochi will be played between Indi Commandos and Kolkata Knight Riders.
source:expressbuzz.com
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