Virat Kohli’s much-awaited return to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was delayed on Tuesday after Bengaluru city police refused permission to hold the Vijay Hazare Trophy match between Delhi and Andhra at the venue. Kohli, who arrived in the city on Monday evening, is expected to feature in two matches, including one against Gujarat. Both matches were earlier shifted from the KSCA Alur Stadium to the Chinnaswamy Stadium in anticipation of crowd-related issues at the Alur venue on the outskirts of the city.
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It has been learned that the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Monday revealed the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) as a backup venue and both the matches will now be held there. There are three plots of land on the premises of the Council of Europe. On Monday, a committee comprising the Bengaluru city police commissioner and officials from public works, fire and rescue services and health departments inspected the Chinnaswamy stadium and submitted its report to Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) commissioner Maheshwar Rao, who heads the panel. City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh confirmed the development: “The committee has inspected the stadium and concluded that there are no proper facilities to host matches. A decision to allow matches will be taken only after the required works are completed. For now, KSCA’s request to host matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium has been rejected.” During the meeting, KSCA officials and the panel also discussed the implementation of the John Michael Cunha Justice Commission report, which outlined 17 recommendations. Security concerns ahead of the match on 24 December further complicated the situation, with the city’s police also tasked with policing Christmas celebrations in the Central Business District. The matches will now be held on Grounds Two and One at the Center of Excellence, ending weeks of uncertainty over Kohli’s return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium for the first time since the June 4 stampede outside the venue during RCB’s IPL victory celebrations. Both matches will be played behind closed doors as there is no spectator monitoring in RE. Kohli hit the ground Kohli and wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant joined the Delhi team for net practice on Tuesday. The duo practiced for about an hour alongside teammates Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini.
