KSCA president Prasad and team meet Karnataka CM, DCM; visit Belagavi stadium

Bengaluru, Dec 10 (PTI) The newly-elected KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad and his team swung into action on Wednesday, visiting the stadium in Belagavi and also held meeting with the Karnataka Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to discuss ways to bring back top-level cricket back to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Prasad along with vice-president Sujith Somasundar and secretary Santosh Menon inspected the condition of the KSCA Stadium in Belagavi. They were also accompanied by veteran administrator Vinay Mruthyanjaya.

The group, which also included KSCA Dharwad division's convener Avinash Potdar, mulled upon the way to spruce up cricket infrastructure across the state.

“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,” Prasad said after the visit.

Prasad said the new set of KSCA administrators have already engaged in talks with CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and other BCCI officials on bringing back top-flight cricket to the M 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,” stated a release from KSCA.

It may be recalled that the Women’s ODI World Cup matches had to be shifted from Bengaluru to other venues after the stadium here failed to obtain essential clearance from the authorities.

The Chinnaswamy Stadium has not hosted any marquee matches since 11 fans were killed in a stampede near its premises during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory celebration on June 4.

The BCCI conducted the season-opening Duleep Trophy and India A’s two four-day matches against South Africa A at its Centre of Excellence grounds. PTI UNG DDV