According to a latest report in Times of India, India national cricket team’s modern batsman Virat Kohli will not play the Vijay Hazare Trophy match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium is home to Virat Kohli’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise – Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and has not been allowed to host Vijay Hazare Trophy matches.
M Chinnaswamy Stadium will not host Vijay Hazare Trophy matches
An unfortunate incident occurred near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium at the beginning of the year after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won their first Indian Premier League (IPL) championship.
During the title win celebrations, fans gathered outside the stadium in large numbers and there was no proper crowd management, which led to a deadly stampede and the loss of many fans’ lives.
Since that incident, the Karnataka government has kept all international and domestic cricket matches away from the venue due to security reasons.
However, recently it was reported that the iconic stadium will host Team Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 matches.
Virat Kohli’s Chinnaswamy comeback has been officially canceled
However, according to a latest report, Chinnaswamy will have to wait longer to host matches as Delhi’s match against Andhra has been shifted to a new venue.
Kohli will not be seen in action at Chinnaswamy as the Bengaluru City Police has refused permission to hold the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches.
On Monday night, Virat Kohli reached Bengaluru for the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches, and is now likely to play the games at the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE), which was kept as a backup venue.
Notably, an inspection was conducted at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium by a committee comprising the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner and officials from the Public Works Department, Fire and Emergency Services and Health Department, and submitted their report to Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, who heads the panel.
The committee found that the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was unfit to host matches, and city police commissioner Seemantha Kumar Singh said in an official statement:
“The committee inspected the stadium and concluded that there are no proper facilities to hold the matches. A decision on allowing the matches will be taken only after the necessary work is completed. As of now, KSCA’s request to hold the matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium has been rejected.”
There is enthusiasm in the Delhi team due to the presence of Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli will play Vijay Hazare Trophy after a long time and his presence will boost the morale of the Delhi team. However, fans will not be able to see Virat Kohli in action as the matches will be played behind closed doors at the COE.
Meanwhile, Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh said that Kohli is fully prepared to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy and he wants to win the match for the team.
“Virat Kohli is excited, he is ready to rock. He will play tomorrow.” As quoted by RevSportz, Sarandeep Singh said.
“All the senior players, all the players who have been playing at the highest level, are coming back to play for their respective states,” Sarandeep said. “It’s also great for the youngsters, who can learn a lot of things and it will seriously boost their confidence. It’s a great gesture from the players who said that with no international matches, they will play the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It’s a great thing for domestic cricket.”
“When a player like Virat enters the dressing room, things change completely. The youngsters look up to him. He is their idol. Everyone wants to be like him – how he is training, how he is doing his workouts, everything… There are a lot of things to learn from the senior players. He is here to win matches.”
Also read: Virat Kohli’s Chinnaswamy return for VHT soured, Karnataka government imposes ban
