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Venkatesh Prasad Becomes KSCA President, Targets Chinnaswamy Revival
Follow UsEarlier this year, after RCB lifted their maiden IPL title, the city faced one of its darkest days as 11 people died in a tragic stampede
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad has been elected as the new president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), while former batter Sujith Somasunder has been named vice-president, ESPNcricinfo reported on December 8 (Monday).
Prasad, who received “unanimous backing” from former teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, defeated KN Shanth Kumar by a margin of 749–558.
"First and foremost, this is a victory for the sport of cricket. Secondly, this is a victory for all the members who wanted a change, all the people who wanted international cricket to come back to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium,” said the 56-year-old.
Earlier this year, after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lifted their maiden IPL title, the city faced one of its darkest days as 11 people died in a tragic stampede during the victory parade at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Since then, the venue has been barred from hosting major events and was stripped of its Women’s World Cup matches, which were reassigned to DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Chinnaswamy was originally scheduled to host five games, including the final.
According to Shashank Kishore’s ESPNcricinfo report, “KSCA subsequently ran into trouble with the state's electricity suppliers over fire-safety compliances, which led to power supply to the venue being cut-off. Power has since been restored after a fire-safety audit that said KSCA was in compliance with regulations.
“Prasad has now instructed his team to study the other possible changes they can implement by studying the findings of the Justice John Michael D'Cunha Commission, appointed by the Karnataka government in the aftermath of the stampede.”
Amid speculation that RCB might be forced to play their home games away from the Chinnaswamy Stadium in IPL 2026, Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar dismissed the rumours.
“I'm a cricket lover. We will ensure that the accident in Karnataka does not happen again and hold cricket events at Chinnaswamy Stadium in a manner that upholds the honour of Bengaluru. We will not shift the IPL elsewhere and will continue to hold it here at Chinnaswamy Stadium. This is the pride of Bengaluru and Karnataka, which we will retain,” he said on Sunday.