Thiruvananthapuram ,March 21: Union minister of state for external affairs and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, was the person who prompted the Rendezvous Sports World consortium to bid for a Kerala team in the IPL auction.
Sahara on Sunday bagged the Pune team while the consortium Rendezvous Sports World Ltd clinched Kochi, the two new teams that will join the IPL from the 2011 season.
While expressing delight at Kerala getting a team, Mr Tharoor said in Kochi that he had only played the role of a mentor in the whole process and did not have any financial stake. “All I did was to offer encouragement, blessings and expert advice,” he said. “But I have no other role to play. It is a business-oriented decision.”
The MP said an IPL team would capture the imagination of the Kerala youth and give a fillip to the game in the state. It is learnt that Mr Tharoor had been working behind the scenes for weeks to get together several businessmen to bid for a Kerala team. He even flew to the Gulf to persuade some of them.
Prominent among these businessmen is Mr Vivek Venugopal, a Malayalee NRI based in the Gulf. He had teamed up with North Indian industrialist Shailendra Gaekwad and others to put up the bid.
Mr Tharoor hinted that Kerala would try to get its ace bowler, Sreesanth, too,once his contract with Kings XI Punjab got over.
Earlier Malayalam superstar Mohanlal and director Priyadarshan had also tried to bag an IPL team for Kerala, but backed out after the bid rules were changed.
Mr Tharoor said he hoped the actor-director team would back the present efforts to set up a team. The Kerala Cricket Association also expressed joy at the state getting a stake in the IPL and hoped matches would be held in the international stadium coming up in Kochi.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that the IPL team from the state would be named either the Kerala Tuskers or the Kerala Cobras.
Age Correspondent