Media365
NEW DELHI: Newly elected KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad began work on Wednesday by visiting the Stadium in Belagavi and holding meetings with Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar to discuss steps to resume top-level cricket at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Prasad, along with KSCA vice-president Sujith Somasundar and secretary Santosh Menon, inspected the Belagavi stadium. Veteran administrator Vinay Mruthyanjaya was also part of the visit. KSCA Dharwad division convener Avinash Potdar joined the group as they discussed ways to improve cricket infrastructure across the state.After the inspection, Prasad said development work would extend beyond Bengaluru. “Belagavi, Shimoga, Tumakuru, Hubballi and all other centres will see development in the coming days, as our focus is to rebuild cricket and bring back the better days for state cricket,” he said, as quoted by news agency PTI.Prasad confirmed that the new KSCA management has already held discussions with the chief minister, deputy chief minister and BCCI officials on restarting major cricket at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.“During the meeting, the newly elected KSCA Managing Committee, led by Mr. Venkatesh Prasad, conveyed its commitment to extending full cooperation to the State Government. Mr Venkatesh Prasad also requested the Hon’ble CM and DCM to grant the necessary permissions to resume hosting cricket matches with spectators at the iconic M Chinnaswamy Stadium, thereby restoring top-level cricketing action to Bengaluru,” a KSCA release stated.The stadium has not hosted major matches after Women’s ODI World Cup games were moved out of Bengaluru due to the venue failing to receive required clearances.No marquee fixtures have been held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium since 11 people died in a stampede near the venue during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL title celebrations on June 4.The BCCI later staged the season-opening Duleep Trophy and India A’s two four-day matches against South Africa A at its Centre of Excellence grounds instead of the city stadium.
