All Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) matches, which were supposed to take place in Bengaluru, have been shifted from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) following a directive from the Karnataka government considering security reasons.
Why KSCA shifted venue for VHT matches
The change includes Delhi's VHT opening clash against Andhra which will feature Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant. A Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) official confirmed the development to Cricbuzz.
Cricbuzz also reported that the KSCA was informed of the decision by the state home ministry on Tuesday morning. Subsequently, both participating teams for the opening game were notified, and their pre-match training session is now set to take place at the BCCI CoE. Justice John Michael D'Cunha's report labelled the stadium "highly unsafe" for large gatherings. While the new KSCA management under Venkatesh Prasad has been working to address these concerns, a government committee inspection on Monday did not give the go-ahead for the venue to resume hosting matches.
Why is Chinnaswamy not hosting matches since IPL 2025
Notably, the Chinnaswamy Stadium has not hosted any cricket matches involving international cricketers since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. IPL 2025 winners, RCB, hosted a victory parade outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which turned into chaos as thousands of RCB fans gathered outside the stadium early in the evening, eager to catch a glimpse of the team arriving with the trophy.
Are fans allowed for VHT matches at BCCI CoE?
The VHT matches in Bengaluru will take place without spectators, as the state government doesn't want to take any potential chaos during the holiday season. Meanwhile, the Bengaluru police have guaranteed a heavy security presence around the Aerospace Park area. The CoE had recently hosted the Duleep Trophy and India A games in a similar no spectators setup