Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, which has been Virat Kohli’s home ground since he played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, was deemed unfit to host the large-scale tournament after a stampede broke out in RCB’s victory celebrations. However, with the efforts of Venkatesh Prasad and KSCA, government officials have given approval to Chinnaswamy to host IPL matches and international cricket.
Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, one of India’s most famous grounds and home of the most loved IPL team, Royal Challengers Bangalore, was deemed not suitable to host tournaments that attract massive crowd attention due to the mismanagement of RCB’s victory celebrations, which led to a stampede and the death of 11 people.
Since then, Chinnaswamy Stadium has not hosted any top-level cricket tournament; He even missed some matches of the KSCA domestic tournament. They missed the KSCA Maharajas T20 tournament, Women’s World Cup matches including the final and finally the Vijay Hazare Trophy games which saw the return of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant.
Virat Kohli and RCB’s home ground Chinnaswamy has got the green signal as IPL host.
After months of uncertainty over hosting matches at the infamous Chinnaswamy Stadium, the government has given the green signal to KSCA to host IPL matches and then further international games.
The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), since the appointment of its new president, former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, has been working on ways to prevent any further bad incidents, which has received the approval of the Home Ministry. However, the approval is “subject to compliance with specific terms and conditions prescribed by the Government and relevant authorities.”
So far, the only issue resolved by KSCA is the power supply’s long-standing problem with Bengaluru electricity regulatory authority, BESCOM, over fire-safety compliance.
Will ‘King’ return to his hometown for IPL 2026?
While this development is a big development regarding the future of the venue, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s return to the venue for IPL 2026 seems a long way off. So, Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore may be defending their title, but not on their home ground.
RCB COO, Rajesh Menon recently spoke to the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh on the possibility of martyrdom Raipur’s Veer Narayan Stadium will host its home matches in 2026.
The other two possibilities to host their games are the MCA Stadium in Pune and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, which have already hosted WPL matches in the last few seasons.
KSCA is looking to fix major issues related to safety precautions at Chinnaswamy Stadium
KSCA is fixing the problems at Chinnaswamy Stadium. They have issued tenders to take remedial measures like widening the entry and exit gates around the stadium. Their primary challenge will be to ensure the safety of people entering the venue.
The IPL will begin on March 26 and RCB will play the opening matches as the defending champions of the tournament. However, BCCI is yet to announce the schedule as well as the venues as they are awaiting official confirmation.
The RCB team had proposed to install 300-350 AI-enabled cameras for better crowd management, with a commitment to bear the one-time cost of Rs 4.5 crore.
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