Ahead of World Cup, soccer-crazy Keralites kick off a cutout war
Kozhikode(PTI): Football frenzy is peaking in 'paradoxical' Kerala ahead of the world cup as huge cutouts of Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr and Cristiano Ronaldo erected alongside a scenic river flowing through this north Kerala district have grabbed worldwide attention.
As the marquee tournament kicks off in Qatar later this month, soccer mania has gripped this southern state and fan pages, largely celebrating South American nations dominating the sport, have started going viral.
Kerala, known for its love for football, caught the global attention last week when a group of Argentinian soccer team fans in Pullavoor village erected a 30-foot-tall cutout of Messi over a small islet in the river weeks ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
If Argentina is there, can Brazil be left behind?
Keralite Brazil fans erected a 40-foot-tall cutout of Neymar Jr along the banks of the river, spicing up the contest between the supporters of the two stars.
It didn't take long for Messi and Neymar Jr to be overshadowed by yet another over 45-foot tall Cristiano Ronaldo cutout wearing Portugal jersey. The fans have used his widely shared image of him preparing for a free kick at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Incidentally, FIFA tweeted a picture of the cutouts, saying world cup "fever has hit Kerala."Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan thanked the world football body for "acknowledging our unmatched passion for the sport." Kerala's love for football is "on full display" with the World Cup around, he said in a tweet.
"These cutouts have been widely shared by the official fan pages of Argentina and Brazil," E T Nibinraj, a resident from a nearby area, told PTI.
Argentina National Football Team, an unverified Facebook page with over over 4.23 lakh Likes and followers, posted the image of Messi's cutout on November 1 which went viral.
Numerous fan pages, including that of Brazil, have shared the viral images.
According to P V Sreenijan MLA, who is also the president of District Sports Council in Ernakulam and an office bearer of the district football association, said the club football history of the country has greatly influenced the people of Kerala.
"The Mohun Bagan and East Bengal clubs along with the 1973 Santosh Trophy win among other factors attracted a whole generation towards football. Keralites are also big fans of (Deigo) Maradona, Pele. The history of Argentina and the literature on Latin American football was readily available to Keralites through books and newspapers," Sreenijan told PTI, while tracing the Malayali community's love for soccer.
A popular social media handle, @Advaidism, who is an ardent fan of Arsenal club, said the passion for football is so high in Kerala that before each FIFA world cup, half of the state supports Brazil while the other half will root for the Argentinian football team.
"Kerala is a paradoxical Indian state where football is far more popular than cricket. Kerala hosted Santosh Trophy in 1950s and won it in 1970s. Kerala enjoyed a golden age from 1985 to 1995 by making it to Santhosh Trophy finals seven times consecutively and football became an iconic sport ever since in the south Indian state," said the social media handler who did not wish to be identified by his name.
Kerala has produced many talented footballers like I M Vijayan, C V Pappachan, V P Sathyan and C K Vineeth. Today, the 'sevens' tournament football is very popular in Kerala, @Advaidism said.
The cutout mania has its critics too. A lawyer, who claims to be an activist, filed a complaint with the Chathamangalam panchayat to remove the structures claiming they might affect the natural flow of the river.
The location borders Chathamangalam panchayat and Koduvally Municipality. The Municipal authorities claim it is part of their territory. The local body authorities said they were not planning to remove the cutouts.
Kunnamangalam MLA P T A Rahim said the game of football unites people across countries and languages and they stand with the joy of football fans.
"There is no basis in the argument that the cutouts of Messi and Neymar installed in Pullavur (sic) should be removed. The place where the cutouts were installed is on the border of Chathamangalam GP (gram panchayat) and Koduvalli municipality...part given by GoK for the drinking water system of NIT," Rahim tweeted.
He said he visited the site and it was confirmed the cutouts installed in the area adjacent to the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut's check dam will not affect the natural flow of the river in any way.
Meanwhile, a tragic incident was reported from Kannur on November 5 when a 48-year-old man, a diehard fan of Brazil who was attempting to tie a poster up a tree, died after falling from it.
In 2021, when Argentina lifted the Copa America cup, the streets of Kerala were as charged as any Latin American street. ESPN Argentina had then shared a video of Argentina fans in Kerala riding through the streets in joy.
Kerala is also witnessing a friendly banter between the enthusiastic legislators cutting across political lines over two favourite teams, Brazil and Argentina.
The now customary social media fight of leaders started this time with State Education Minister, V Sivankutty cheering Brazil with a poster saying the football giant will lift this edition of the World cup.
Senior Left leader and former state minister M M Mani, an Argentina fan, responded sarcastically by commenting that he hopes that Brazil will not catch the first return flight from Qatar.
Later, MLAs P Mammikutty, M Vijin, M Naushad, V K Prasanth and LDF convenor E P Jayarajan, among others came out in support of Argentina.
MLAs K M Sachindev, K T Jaleel among others backed Brazil.
#FIFAWorldCup fever has hit Kerala
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) November 8, 2022
Giant cutouts of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi popped up on a local river ahead of the tournament.
12 days to go until #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/29yEKQvln5
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
ALSO READ: South Africa level series after de Kock special; Gill, SKY misfire again
Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
ALSO READ: Messi mania grips Kolkata as thousands welcome Argentine icon at 2.26 am
Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
