Virat Kohli's Chinnaswamy homecoming in Vijay Hazare Trophy no longer happening; here's why

Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium had been listed among 21 venues across six cities for the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, which gets underway on Tuesday, and was all set to host leading stars Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant in the Delhi vs Andhra fixture on the opening day.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), however, has since been ordered to move all fixtures allotted to the iconic venue located in the heart of Bengaluru to the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence on the outskirts of the city due to security reasons, according to ESPNCricinfo.

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The KSCA was given a late intimation for the same by the Karnataka government on Tuesday, a day before the 33rd edition of India’s premier domestic List A competition gets underway. The Delhi and Andhra teams, however, were informed in time ahead of their practice sessions, and were not left stranded as a result.

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This is the second time the Vijay Hazare Trophy has had a change of venues in the span of two weeks, with the KSCA having previously moved matches involving Kohli and Pant to Chinnaswamy from Alur due to logistical and security challenges.

How 4 June stampede continues to haunt Chinnaswamy

A stampede had broke out outside Chinnaswamy during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory celebration on 4 June, a day after the franchise won their maiden Indian Premier League title. And in the fallout of the tragic incident that left 11 dead and several more injured, the venue lost out on hosting matches in the recent ICC Women’s World Cup with Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium taking its place.

The Chinnaswamy Stadium has since been declared unsafe by the Justice Cunha Commission, which was constituted by the Karnataka government to investigate the stampede and conduct an audit into the safety features at the venue and recommend changes for the same.

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A committee constitute by the Karnataka government had conducted an inspection at Chinnaswamy on Monday and had submitted a report on the same. The ESPNCricinfo report adds that government took the decision of shifting matches out of the venue in order to prevent chaotic scenes during the holiday season.

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The KSCA, which had recently conducted its elections with former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad being appointed to the role of president, has also been asked to conduct matches at the BCCI’s CoE behind closed doors.