Tharoor had accepted invite:?KCA

Kochi: Union minister Shashi Tharoor’s “gimmick” to refuse the elite enclosure and occupy the gallery during the India-West Indies ODI at Jawaharlal Nehru international stadium on Thursday has prompted a reaction from the Kerala Cricket Association.

The KCA told this newspaper that it had officially invited the minister as a patron of the gala and had provided him special accreditation. Apparently, Tharoor chose not to take the invite and opted for the discomfort of the “cattle class.”

“We’ve no clue why he went to the gallery. A week ago our president T.C. Mathew extended an official invite and three days back we sent his accreditation to his residence in Thiruvananthapuram,” said KCA joint secretary Jayesh George.

Tharoor has a running feud with the cricket body and did in a tweet-a-row last month after a series of unfortunate washouts in the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament at the venue.

“The accreditation was couriered from our Thiruvananthapuram office and it was collected by Tharoor’s personal secretary Ranjith. So we were virtually stumped when he preferred the gallery,” said Jayesh.

It is understood the KCA officials approached him during the match and requested him to move to the VIP area. After some convincing he agreed to join Governor Nikhil Kumar and MLA Hibi Eden in the elite seating.