Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, who will be contesting in the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) election, has vowed to bring cricket back to the iconic Chinnaswamy stadium among other promises. Following the Bengaluru stampede after RCB’s IPL 2025 win that left 11 dead, the Justice Cunha Committee deemed the stadium in Bengaluru as “unfit to host large scale events.” As a result, not only were the Maharaja Trophy matches moved out but the Women’s Cricket World Cup matches scheduled to be held in the stadium were also scrapped.
‘Chinnaswamy is an iconic venue’
As per Cricbuzz, Venkatesh Prasad, along with ex-KSCA treasurer Mruthyunjaya – who are set to contest in the KSCA elections later this year – vowed to restore the Chinnaswamy stadium’s glory. The ex-KSCA vice-president noted that every international and domestic match had been moved out of the iconic venue and that it had never happened in the past. While it will be impossible for the KSCA to get the Women’s WC games back to Bengaluru, the association will be racing against time to ensure that RCB will continue to play in Bengaluru in IPL 2026.
“Every international match has been moved out of Bangalore. It’s such an iconic venue, Chinnaswamy Stadium, which has been standing for the last 50 years. This is something which has never happened. Even our own Maharaja Cup has also been moved out which is not a good thing,” Prasad noted.
Prasad’s ambitious plans
Prasad also outlined his ambitious plans to increase the seating capacity at the M Chinnaswamy stadium by 15,000 seats. Meanwhile, Mruthyunjaya said that if they come to power, there will be no compromise on the safety of the fans. The KSCA elections are scheduled to take place in October or November, as per reports. It is pertinent to point out that the KSCA currently does not have a treasurer or a secretary as the duo resigned following the Bengaluru stampede.
“We need to work on that. Because as I said earlier, this was built in 1974 for the first Test match. I’m sure we cannot take it to 80,000 and so on. So probably another 15,000 more, maybe up to 50,000 and now it’s 34,000-35,000,” Prasad added.
