Kerala duo to call the shots at Salt Lake

KOCHI: Hours before the historic Argentina-Venezuela friendly match in Kolkata, Lionel Messi may be commanding attention from all corners. But at the Salt Lake stadium on Friday, a 32-year-old Palakkad native will have the superstar and 21 others awaiting his whistle to set the ball rolling as India hosts an international match of such a magnitude for the first time.A Rowan, employed with the Indian Air Force, will officiate the match.Moreover, one of the two assistant referees is Dinesh Nair, 39. Based at Ahmedabad, he is a native of Cherpu in Thrissur.The duo reached Kolkata on Wednesday evening and underwent preparatory sessions on Thursday. West Bengal’s Biplab Poddar is the other assistant referee while Franky Fernandes from Goa is the fourth referee.Rowan, who played as a defender for the Air Force team before an injury forced him to switch to refereeing, is set to be included in the elite panel of referees of the AFC.Rowan is one of the youngest FIFA referees from Asia and has stood in international fixtures including the Nehru Cup and the AFC Challenge Cup.Employed with the Income Tax Department, Dinesh is already a member of the AFC’s elite panel of assistant referees.Having played for Gujarat in the Santosh Trophy, he has been a regular feature at the Asian level. He was one of the officials for the Asian Games encounter between UAE and Uzbekistan in Guangzhou last year.