‘The ball is in RCB’s court’: KSCA head Venkatesh Prasad amid uncertainty over Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium

‘It has been only one-sided’

Venkatesh Prasad’s statement comes at a time when RCB is reportedly contemplating Pune, Mumbai or Raipur as its venue for home matches after the Karnataka Government banned cricket matches following the stampede in June last year, which claimed 11 lives.

“A few days ago, RCB contacted us, though they should have reached out to us much earlier. After the meeting, we have not received any word from them, and we want them to engage with the government for the smooth conduct of matches. Till now, it has been only one-sided (KSCA). The ball is now in RCB’s court,” he added.

“It is an obligation for RCB as fans have been supporting them for all these years, and the franchise has grown to a great extent,” he said.

Santosh Menon, Secretary, KSCA, said RCB was keen on playing at Chinnaswamy Stadium. “RCB recently proposed to install 300 AI-powered cameras at the stadium for crowd management. It shows that they are interested. But they have certain apprehensions, which we will sit together and resolve,” Menon said.

Venkatesh Prasad said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has agreed to grant Bengaluru more international matches once the issue is addressed. “We could not host the Women’s ODI World Cup, the men’s T20 World Cup and the Women’s Premier League (WPL). To compensate, BCCI has assured to give more international matches to Bengaluru,” he added.

‘Want to be thorough in our commitment’

Hours after Venkatesh Prasad’s press meet, RCB management said in a statement that they welcome the Karnataka Government’s decision to allow matches to be held at the iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium. “We also recognise and highly appreciate KSCA’s efforts in the ongoing infrastructure work that has led to this conditional approval to host matches.”

“While our desire is always to play at our home ground, in front of our ardent fans, we want to be thorough in our commitment to further understand the conditions applicable to host matches here and the measures taken to ensure fans’ safety protocols are met. Our goal is to see how best all stakeholders involved can work together. We have repeatedly stated that fans are the heart and soul of RCB, we have always had a fans-first approach, and we want to work together to ensure they have the best and safe experience,” it said.

“From our preliminary conversations, there are still a few grey areas that need to be looked into, and we are considering these parameters and inputs from all stakeholders before arriving at a responsible decision for the team and our fans,” the statement read.

A KSCA member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if IPL matches are held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it would be a win-win for KSCA and RCB. “But it looks like there are other concerns, as there are court hearings taking place where their legal standpoint may be a cause of concern,” the member added.