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Curious as it might seem, most Keralites including the local media were in the dark till a few days ago as regards the Rendezvous consortium that won the bid for the Kochi team in the Indian Premier League. Vivek Venugopal of Elite group is the only Keralite among the declared members of the Rendezvous consortium, though he too is based in Bangalore.

Even though the Kerala Cricket Assocation had declared that it would back whoever won the bid for Kochi, the entry of the new company was certainly not something it had anticipated. The KCA was solidly behind superstar Mohanlal and Bollywood filmmaker Priyadarshan, who were the first to float the idea of a team for Kochi. The duo cobbled up friends in Bollywood including actor Akshay Kumar and some industrialists. However, they withdrew from the fray with the introduction of a clause stipulating that the net worth of every bidding party had to be at least $1 billion. According to KCA secretary TC Mathew, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor supported this effort, and it was only when Mohanlal and Priyadarshan withdrew that he moved on to find a new promoter. A business group based in Uttar Pradesh was believed to have evinced interest in this project. Sources say that it was Tharoor’s persuasive skills which not only got the promoters together but even got Lalit Modi to ignore the absence of a modern and exclusive cricket stadium in Kerala for the IPL matches. The stadium under construction in Kochi will not be ready for IPL IV. The Jawaharlal Nehru multi-purpose stadium has hosted six one-day internationals, and will have to undergo a sea change to hold day-night matches and meet the demands of the IPL. Interestingly, while most Keralites and particularly the youth rejoiced at the news of a Kochi team in the IPL, Tharoor’s opponents and some associates in the political circuit weren’t too amused at the popularity it has earned him. The CPM’s youth outfit DYFI, while naming him as the prime mover behind Rendezvous, called for an inquiry into the ‘source of the money pledged for the Kochi team’. A top leader of the District Congress grudgingly admitted that Tharoor’s stocks may have risen.