NEWDELHI: Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor on Sunday claimedhis ‘mentoring’ of Rendezvous Sports World Ltd — a five-memberconsortium of real estate agents and builders from Delhi’s Moti Nagar toMumbai which won the bid for Kochi in the IPL auction — as one of hismajor achievements.
Mr Tharoor, who attempted to invoke ‘Keralapride’ — the Kochi team, would have mostly players from other statesand cricketing nations — after his success in getting Kochi to join theleague of 8 IPL cities along with Pune for Season 4, got handsome praise fromIPL commissioner Lalit Modi.
Mr Modi put on record his‘appreciation’ for the minister for ”helping Kerala to have ateam of its own.” Rendezvous had emerged as a surprise package in the IPLbidding for two new teams. Rendezvous Sports bid $333.33 million forKochi.
this is the first time that a politician, and that too aminister at the Centre, has openly associated himself — though in amentoring capacity — with the commercial part of a sporting activity.Rendezvous has refused to divulge the companies that are part of the consortium.Its spokesman said the company would not divulge its details at thispoint.
Mr Tharoor’s ‘unofficial’ association withthe sporting company has already raised eyebrows. At a time when his partyconsiders everything other than ‘aam admi’ issues irrelevant , theminister’s dalliance with cricket is certain to attract attention. but MrTharoor, a veteran of many controversies. is unfazed. on Sunday evening, he tookto Twitter to explain his side of the story. he clarified that he was not partof the bid but was pleased to give this venture his “encouragement andblessings.” “I am not part of the bid but was pleased to giveRendezvous Sports World my encouragement & blessings. my interest is intransforming Kerala,” Mr Tharoor tweeted on the social networkingsite.
“Congratulations to all Kerala cricket lovers on newsthat 1 of the 2 new IPL teams will be based in Kochi,” wrote Mr Tharoor, acricket buff and a co-author of a book on cricket. “Cricket will inspireall Keralites,” he added.
“All I did on my part was tooffer encouragement , blessings and expert advice when required by the bidders.Beyond that, I had no role to play. I understand it’s a businessdecision,” Mr Tharoor told journalists in Kochi.