Kerala IPL team will give opportunity to state players: Tharoor

KOCHI: Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, who is also an ardent cricket enthusiast and writer, Sunday expressed happiness over Kerala acquiring an Indian Premier League (IPL) team and noted that this would augur well for the future of Kerala cricket.

Speaking to reporters here, Dr Tharoor said the young bright cricket players from Kerala would have an opportunity to showcase their qualities and talent in the national arena through the IPL platform.

If I am asked for an opinion, I will put forward the suggestion that four to six state players should be there in team apart from the popular and international players, he added.

In the auction in Chennai, city-based Consortium of Rendezvous Sports won the Kerala (Kochi) team by putting a bid of Rs 1,533.32 crore to become the tenth team in the IPL. It may be noted that Dr Tharoor worked as a facilitator for the bid for a Kerala team to be based in the city.

He said there were certain Kerala players, apart from pacer S Sreesanth, who were playing for other teams and they might want to play for the home team.

Asked about the interest shown by noted actor Mohanlal and director Priyadarshan in acquiring an IPL team, Dr Tharoor said they had elicited interest in bidding for a Kerala IPL team but later they backed out. But I am sure that they would co-operate with the new team as they have a pro-cricket mentality.