"We could have perhaps helped to divert the water and put in sand bags to protect the cricket square and the drainage channels we have dug over the years on the rugby pitches, " he said.

BBC: Pitch inspection

Further down the beach, two best friends sit apart from their software engineer colleagues playing cricket, sifting the sand through their hands as they talk about their new husbands and their lives back in Trivandrum.

BBC: The perfect trip: Kerala, India