World’s third drop-in pitch in Kerala’s capital

Thiruvananthapuram: After Australia and New Zealand, the world’s third “drop-in” cricket pitch will come up at the Kariyavattom Greenfield Stadium here, it was announced yesterday.

The announcement came after the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) inked an agreement with Kariyavattom Sports Facilities Ltd (KSFL), which manages the stadium, assuring use of the facility for 180 days a year, according to Anil Kumar Pandala, Director, KSFL.

A drop-in cricket pitch is one that is prepared elsewhere and “dropped into” its predetermined place before a match. This allows the stadium to host other sports and events.

“It’s going to cost us around Rs80-Rs100 million (Dh4.4-Dh5.5 million) and... we expect it to be ready next year. When complete, this would be the third venue that has this facility after the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Eden Park in New Zealand. This ground and stadium can be kept going only if we have this facility too,” Pandala said.

Located near the Technopark campus in the city, this modern sports complex, built at a cost of Rs3.75 billion, has a seating capacity of 50,000.

It has been cleared as a venue by both the International Cricket Council (ICC) and World football governing body, Fifa.

Earlier this year, it bagged the David Vickers Award in the “New Venue of the Year” category, beating several stadia around the world.

“Through the new agreement inked by the KCA with the stadium, from now on for the next 11 years, we will use the stadium for 180 days in a year. The last time an international cricket match was hosted in the city was in 1989 and through this, we are hopeful of staging an international match this year and also this would be a venue for the next IPL,” KCA President T.C. Mathew said.

—IANS