The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is home to Virat Kohli’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise – the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) – and no permission has been granted to host the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches.
M Chinnaswamy Stadium will not host any Vijay Hazare Trophy matches
An unfortunate incident took place near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium earlier this year after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won their first Indian Premier League (IPL) championship.
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During the title triumph celebrations, fans gathered in large numbers outside the stadium and there was no proper crowd management, leading to a deadly stampede that claimed the lives of many fans.
Since that incident, the Karnataka government has held all international and domestic cricket matches outside the venue due to security reasons.
However, it was recently reported that the iconic stadium will host Team Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 matches.
Virat Kohli’s comeback in Chinnaswamy has been officially cancelled
However, according to a latest report, Chinnaswamy will have to wait longer to host the matches as Delhi’s match against Andhra has been shifted to a new venue.
Kohli will not be seen in action in Chinnaswamy as the Bengaluru city police have refused to give permission to organize the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches.
On Monday evening, Virat Kohli landed in Bengaluru for the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches and is now likely to play the matches at the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE), which was kept as a backup venue.
Notably, an inspection was conducted at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru by a committee comprising the Bengaluru Police Commissioner and officials from the Public Works Department, Fire and Emergency Services Department and the Health Department, and they submitted their report to Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, who heads the panel.
The committee found that the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was unsuitable to host the matches, and city police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said in an official statement:
“The committee inspected the stadium and concluded that there are no proper facilities to hold matches. A decision on allowing matches will be taken only after the required works are completed. For now, KSCA’s request to hold matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium has been rejected.”
Virat Kohli’s presence strengthens the Delhi team
Virat Kohli will be playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy after a very long time and his presence will act as a morale booster for the Delhi team. However, fans will not be able to watch Virat Kohli in action as the matches will be played behind closed doors at the CoE.
Meanwhile, Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh said Kohli is definitely motivated to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy and wants to win matches for the team.
“Virat Kohli is charged, he is ready to rock. He will play tomorrow.” said Sarandeep Singh, as quoted by RevSportz.
“All the senior players, all the players who play at the highest level, are coming back to play for their respective states,” Sarandeep said. “It is also very good for the youngsters, who can learn a lot of things and it would seriously boost their confidence. It is a great gesture from the players who said that if there are no international matches, they would play the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is very nice that this is happening for domestic cricket.”
“When a player like Virat comes into the dressing room, things have changed completely. Youngsters look up to him. He is their idol. Everyone wants to be like him – how he trains, how he does his training, everything… There is a lot to learn from the senior players. He is here to win games.”
Also read: Virat Kohli’s Chinnaswamy return for VHT turns sour as Karnataka government imposes ban
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