IPL Kochi owners meet Kerala Chief Minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The owners of the newly-acquired Indian Premier League (IPL) Kochi franchise Wednesday called on Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan to seek the government’s support in their efforts to build and organise the team.

Rendezvous Sports World in March won the franchise for the Kochi IPL team for a record price of Rs.1,500 crore.

After his meeting with the team owners, Achuthanandan said: “See, they told me a few things and much of what they said I did not understand. So, I told them that I will speak to Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar and before that I have asked them to put it on paper what exactly they want. If this is something that needs to be promoted, then by all means it would be done and if not ….”

The IPL Kochi franchisees, who met Achuthanandan at his home here, include co-owners Vivek Venugopal, Chief Executive Officer of Rendezvous Sports World P.T. Keshav, Mohan Shah (Anchor Group), Owal Shah (Paraneeam Developers), Kailash (Film Waves) and former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor.

Tharoor, also the local MP, was largely instrumental in getting the franchisees together.

On Tuesday, they had called on opposition leader Oommen Chandy and sought his support for the venture. The members also had a detailed meeting with the Kerala Cricket Association and announced that Kochi would be the home venue for the team in the next season.