The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India, has been given the go-ahead to host cricket matches for the first time since a tragic incident outside the venue in June claimed 11 lives.
A stampede and crush during celebrations for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory in the Indian Premier League left 11 people dead on June 4.
ESPN Cricinfo said the venue is one of the hosts for Karnataka State Cricket Association’s (KSCA) K Thimmappiah Memorial Trophy, a red-ball multi-day pre-season tournament comprising 16 teams.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium will host six matches in the competition, including one semi-final and the final from September 26. However, fans will not be allowed in the stadium.
The tournament features teams from Mumbai, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal, Chhattisgarh among others.
Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Vijay Shankar, Shashank Singh are among the top Indian stars in participation.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) last month changed the Chinnaswamy Stadium as a host venue for the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, taking place in India and Sri Lanka, because of the tragedy.
The KSCA had been denied permission by the police to host the Women’s World Cup, with Chinnaswamy losing out on five possible games, including the tournament opener, a semi-final and the final on November 2.
Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium will now host major matches during the tournament instead of Bengaluru’s M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.
ESPN further stated that the venue has been at the centre of an ongoing tussle between the KSCA, Karnataka government and the state police – all of whom have been under investigation, along with the franchise, by a one-man tribunal following the June 4 incident.
Additionally, KSCA have also run into issues with the local regulatory bodies, including the electricity supply department (BESCOM) that has cut-off power to the venue due to non-compliance of fire safety regulations. The venue uses generators and solar power for its needs.
The Maharaja Trophy, the state’s franchise-based T20 competition, had to also be moved out of Bengaluru for the same reason, after the police rejected KSCA’s proposal to stage the tournament behind closed doors.
The tournament was eventually staged in Mysore under a similar closed-door arrangement.
Late last month, a committee tasked by the state government to investigate the stampede deemed the Chinnaswamy “unsafe” for large-scale events.
The commission “strongly recommended” that large-scale events be relocated to venues that were “better suited” to handle significant crowds.
Subsequently, Karnataka’s deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar unveiled the government’s grand plans of building a cricket stadium capable of housing 60,000 fans inside a massive 75-acre sports complex in the city’s industrial suburbs.
Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.
Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.