Hosting four matches of the Women’s ODI World Cup, M Chinnaswamy Stadium of Bengaluru can be deprived. The BCCI had set a deadline of August 10 to get the permission of the police but the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has not yet received permission. The Greenfields Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram is being proposed as an alternative venue.
The first match of the tournament was to be held between India and Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on 30 September and the second semi -final was also to be played on 30 October, including South Africa vs England on 3 October, India vs Bangladesh match on 26 October. At the same time, the final on November 2 is probably to be played here.
According to the current situation, the Greenfields Stadium is preparing to host the second edition of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) between August 21 and September 7. However, it is believed that the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has an alternative scheme under which if he gets the hosting of the World Cup, then in such a situation KCL’s matches can be transferred to another place.
According to the ICC guidelines, the organizers have to hand over the venue to the organizers at least one month before the tournament, so the BCCI and the ICC will have to take a decision within a week as Thiruvananthapuram is also likely to host the practice matches to be held on 25 and 27 September.
KSCA did not get approval till Monday as the commissioner’s office confirmed while the ICC started counting 50 days of the tournament through a grand ceremony held in Mumbai.
The association is currently hosting its T20 competition. The tournament also had to be transferred from Bengaluru last week as KSCA did not even get permission from the police to organize the tournament between the closed doors.
It is believed that KSCA is exploring the option to host with low capacity. However, it is not clear whether the BCCI will allow it or not as Chinnaswamy has also been selected to host the final in the event of Pakistan not reaching the finals.
ESPN Cricinfo has tried to contact KSCA CEO Shubhendu Ghosh but has not received the reply yet. KSCA has been in controversy since June 4 when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had killed 11 people in the surroundings around Chinnaswamy Stadium during the celebrations after winning IPL 2025. After this incident, Secretary A Shankar and Treasurer ES Jairam resigned from their post citing moral responsibility.
Last month, the Commission of Inquiry constituted by the State Government considered the Chinnaswamy Stadium as unsafe for large events. The Commission of inquiry strongly recommended that large events should be transferred to a place that would be better to handle the crowd.
This uncertainty can spoil the plan of teams who were planning to make their base in the city before the tournament and take training at several other practice sites including KSCA facility in the outskirts of the city.(agency)
