Shashi Tharoor makes ‘Kerala’ pitch to Rajiv Shukla after Lucknow fog dampens IND vs SA; BCCI VP says ‘will look into…’

Congress' Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor on Thursday made an appeal to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajiv Shukla to shift the international matches out of the northern part of the country during winters and shift to the southern part, especially to his home state, Kerala.

Tharoor's remarks came in after the fourth T20I between India and South Africa at the Ekana Stadium had to be abandoned due to excessive fog and poor air quality in Lucknow. The game, which was initially scheduled to start at 7 PM, went through six inspections by the umpires before being called off at 9:25 PM. Ahmedabad will host the fifth game on Friday.

Speaking to the media outside the Parliament in New Delhi, Tharoor spotted Shukla and immediately went to him. “Rajiv ji, I was saying that apart from scheduling matches in North India in January, Kerala aaiye (come to Kerala),” Tharoor told Shukla.

In reply, Shukla assured Tharoor that the BCCI will look into the matter. “Will look into the scheduling. 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.”

When Shukla reminded the Kerala can't get all the matches during this period of the year, Tharoor laughed and said, “it will be good for us.” Shukla

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.