IPL 4: Team Kochi says no to Kochi
Mumbai, February 16: Team Kochi is refusing to play in Kochi. It is not in favour of playing matches in Indore either, where the Indian Premier League (IPL) has scheduled a couple of their games. The franchise wants Ahmedabad to be made its permanent venue. In a letter, the Kochi Cricket Pvt Ltd has pointed out a series of issues that they think are potential impediments to their growth. Its major concern is the Kerala high court's recent judgment quashing Kerala Cricket Association's plea to build a new stadium over environment concerns. The franchise has doubts over the pitch of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium surviving seven matches.
'KCA's inability to prepare a permanent venue and the question mark on the existing venue leaves us on a very shaky ground' If the stadium does not give a great IPL experience to the fans then the franchise would face a big financial loss and the IPL a loss of reputation,' the letter written to IPL COO Sundar Raman mentions. Besides, the letter mentions high entertainment tax of 36% in Kerala. 'This would be a major outflow to our revenue estimates and would be a major financial loss to the franchise,' it said. Rejecting Indore, the franchise contended that the entertainment tax in Madhya Pradesh is very high and air connectivity to the city is not good.
'Our only concern is entertainment tax, for which we are making a representation for exemption. Indore as a city can only digest maximum two IPL games as compared to the major cities. Besides, Indore does not have any direct connectivity with the certain centres. The travel will lead to loss of time and will be fatigue to the players with additional expense burden to the franchise and IPL,' the letter states. 'In the above mentioned scenarios we would request you to consider giving our franchise Ahmedabad as a permanent venue. There is no entertainment tax and secondly, the state association has better infrastructure facilities,' it says.
On Wednesday, the IPL released the schedule for the fourth edition of the championship and Team Kochi is slated to host five matches. Two matches have been allotted to Indore. 'If there is a concern from a franchise, the IPL will discuss with them,' said Sundar Raman without elaborating. Franchise co-owner Mukesh Patel, while confirming the letter, said, 'The aim is to ensure that we have a permanent venue. Following the recent court order, it appears that the KCA cannot build a stadium of its own there. There seems to be a problem there,' he said.
News Posted: 17 February, 2011
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