TRS working president and Telangana IT and Municipal Minister K T Rama Rao today urged the BCCI and the office bearers of the IPL to include Hyderabad as one of the venues for the 14th edition of the prestigious IPL tournament.
In his appeal to the organisers, which he published on his official Twitter handle, Rao cited the low number of cases in Hyderabad, and outlined the measures the TRS government had taken for the containment of Covid-19. The minister then suggested the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad's Uppal as the venue.
His tweet reads, "Open appeal to @BCCI and @IPL office bearers to include Hyderabad as one of the venues for upcoming IPL season. Our effective COVID containment measures are reflected in our low number of cases among all metro cities in India & we assure you of all support from the Govt (sic)."
His request comes after whispers that the board is considering hosting the matches in cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi started doing the rounds. The absence of the name of Hyderabad from this list of possible venues is what likely prompted KTR to publish his tweet.
KTR's appeal has found numerous supporters. Even former captain of the Indian cricket team and incumbent Hyderabad Cricket Association head Mohammed Azharuddin expressed his support for the proposal, also in a tweet.
Azharuddin tweeted, "I strongly support the appeal by @ktrtrs. Hyderabad is absolutely capable in handling and conducting @IPL as per @BCCI's directives and preparing a bio-secure bubble (sic)."
The upcoming IPL season has already been making quite a splash in the city. Former cricketer Azharuddin's comments
slamming the Sunrisers Hyderabad management for not including any Hyderabad-based players in the team led to some ugly Twitter exchanges. However, MLA Danam Nagender echoed the former cricketer's sentiments and also
lashed out at the team's managers for the "oversight".