India, Windies teams arrive in Kochi to traditional welcome

Kochi, Nov 19 (IANS) The India and West Indies teams, which arrived here Tuesday for the first One-day International, got a traditional welcome at the Kochi international airport.

The first of the three match series would be played here Thursday.

The teams were received by a group of women dressed in the popular art forms of Kathakali and Mohiniyatam, accompanied by the chenda (traditional Kerala drums).

A huge crowd had gathered to receive the cricketers and the biggest cheers was reserved for explosive West Indies batsmen Chris Gayle and hearing the drums beating to glory, Gayle danced to the tunes which left many happy and excited to see the great batsman.

The teams are slated to practise Wednesday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The match, to be played under lights, will be the ninth ODI here.

Even though the ground is ready, the only dampener at the moment appears to be the northeast monsoon rains that normally hit the state around October-November.

The ticket sales appear to be brisk and the organisers are expecting the nearly 50,000 capacity stadium to be overflowing.

“The pitch looks a good batting strip and a total of more than 260 is not going to be a tough ask,” said an organiser.