Virat Kohli's return to Chinnaswamy put off; seven Bengaluru ties to be played at CoE

BENGALURU: Virat Kohli's much-anticipated return to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was put on hold on Tuesday after the Bengaluru city police denied permission to stage the seven Group D Vijay Hazare Trophy matches at the venue.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The venues had been rejigged last week to move Delhi's matches — against Andhra (Dec 24) and Gujarat (Dec 26), featuring Kohli — from the KSCA Alur Stadium to Chinnaswamy Stadium amid concerns over crowd management at the outskirts venue, some 40-km west of the Bengaluru stadium. The matches will now be held at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE). On Monday, a committee comprising the city police commissioner and officials from the public works department, fire and emergency services, and the health department inspected the Chinnaswamy Stadium and submitted its report to Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) commissioner Maheshwar Rao, who heads the panel. The committee later met KSCA officials, led by president and former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad, to discuss the implementation of the Justice Michael Cunha Commission report, which outlined 17 recommendations.While discussions were ongoing, KSCA is learnt to have simultaneously approached the CoE as a backup venue. Since there were no other matches scheduled at the three grounds inside the premises, once the talks with the government agencies fell through, the matches were shifted immediately.The shift ends 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, which claimed 11 lives. Following the incident, several police officials — including the commissioner and other IPS officers — were suspended.“Hence, the police department does not want to face such a situation again. Fingers will be pointed at us, irrespective of where the fault lies,” a police officer said.In a statement, KSCA said: “Based on the recommendations of the Review Committee, permission for conducting matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is not finding favour. KSCA respects this decision and places on record its gratitude to the Government of Karnataka for considering the request at the cabinet level.”Teams were informed of the venue change, triggering hurried preparations at the CoE on the city's outskirts.Crucial game time ahead of New Zealand ODIsKohli and wicketkeeperbatter Rishabh Pant joined the Delhi squad for net practice on Tuesday. The duo trained for about an hour, alongside teammates including Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini. Kohli hit the nets around noon and also spent time with his teammates.Although the CoE, which was earlier housed inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, now moved to the sprawling premises more than a year ago with all fitness and rehabilitation processes conducted here, this is Kohli's maiden visit to the facility.The matches will now be held on grounds Two and One, respectively. Both matches will be played behind closed doors, as there is no provision for spectators at the CoE.With India scheduled to play 21 ODIs in the build-up to the 2027 World Cup, the two matches, which have been mandated by the BCCI, will give Kohli some game time ahead of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand beginning on Jan 11.Kohli comes into the tournament on the back of some stellar batting performances against South Africa in the three-match home series earlier this month. He scored 302 runs, including two tons.