Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered a huge blow after clinching their first title in the history of the IPL. RCB had organized a victory party at their home ground at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium but things went awry when the excessive crowd resulted in an unfortunate stampede.
A committee was formed by the KSCA and the Government of Karnataka headed by a judge and the committee ruled out that Chinnaswamy Stadium would not be suitable for hosting such events.
RCB will not get Chinnaswamy back as their home ground before IPL 2026
Just a few days ahead of the IPL mini-auction, it was reported that Royal Challengers Bengaluru might have to play their home matches from the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as the ground is yet to lift the ban due to the stampede.
Several options, including Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium and the other stadiums in Trivandrum, were mentioned as options to emerge as RCB’s home ground for the next edition of the IPL.
However, with the KSCA board elections being continuously postponed for the past few months, Venkatesh Prasad, a candidate for the upcoming KSCA presidential election, has claimed that this would only delay RCB’s return to Chinnaswamy.
“We were shocked to hear that the elections were being postponed, and that they might be held before December 30 or postponed even later… We are here for one reason only: to bring cricket back to Chinnaswamy Stadium.”
“We also hear that the Bengaluru franchise may play some matches outside Bengaluru. Why would that happen? If we have to bring back those matches, we have to hold these elections. They have been postponed by more than two months,” said Prasad, who seemed frustrated with the postponement of the elections, which were scheduled for September 30.
KSCA is violating its own legacy, the presidential candidate believes
The Karnataka Cricket Association has always retained the legacy of being led by former cricketers, but perhaps for the first time, some non-cricketer candidates have been included in the scenario, and for guys like Venkatesh Prasad, this seemed a bit derogatory.
“It is shocking to hear that KSCA, which has always been led by a cricketer…That legacy is in jeopardy. By fielding a non-cricketer against a cricketer…I am not afraid of anyone…the very person who is putting this non-cricketer once said that the cricketers should run the association. Now he is going back on his word…Cricket is suffering,” he concluded.
#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka: Venkatesh Prasad, former Indian cricketer and candidate for the post of President in the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) elections, says, “We were shocked to hear that the elections were postponed and that they might be held before December 30… pic.twitter.com/S2tTrfqIIF
— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2025
Will RCB also go after Venkatesh Iyer in this mini-auction?
On the other hand, the defending IPL champions have not released several players but have unleashed their overseas options in Liam Livingstone and Tim Seifert, besides South African pacer Lungi Ngidi.
While the Royal Challengers still have players like Jacob Bethell and Romario Shepherd to fill a void in the middle order, their roles cannot be exactly the same as Livingstone, who was more of a number one batsman. 5. RCB would therefore be looking for his replacement and would also like to bring in a more consistent performer at number 1. 3 then Devdutt Padikkal.
Venkatesh Iyer’s insane price tag was a result of the battle between RCB and KKR in the last mega auction; Therefore, it would be interesting to see if RCB are still keen to have the powerful left-hander from India, with another significant pocketbook, when they enter the mini-auction.
Also read: Gautam Gambhir gives mixed signals to Sai Sudarsan and Devdutt Padikkal for the second Test
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