Bengaluru: With police permission still elusive, Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 tournament, scheduled from August 11 to 27 is likely to be moved out of the M Chinnaswamy stadium to either KSCA Alur Stadium, on Bengaluru’s outskirts, or the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar ground in Mysuru.On July 11, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) announced that the fourth edition of the annual franchise-based tournament will be a closed-door event. It is learnt that the city police are yet to give the tournament a go-ahead. Confirming this, a source told TOI that they’re looking at other venues.The Bengaluru stadium witnessed a stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory parade in early June, which claimed 11 lives.There have been questions raised on the infrastructure and safety measures at the 50-year-old stadium, which was further highlighted in the Justice D’Cunha report submitted to the state government last week. Although the event has been announced as a closed-door event, apprehensions remain.“…..Until such infrastructural changes are made, continuing to host high-attendance events at the current location poses unacceptable risks to public safety, urban mobility and emergency preparedness.”While KSCA president Raghuram Bhat was unavailable for comments, Bengaluru City police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh was non-committal: “We have received a proposal and the same has been sent to the jurisdiction police station for verification.”FRANCHISES MIFFEDMultiple franchises TOI spoke to are miffed with the prevailing uncertainties. They are expected to meet on Friday evening to discuss the further course of action.A franchise representative said, “KSCA has taken the franchises for granted. We are the major stakeholders, and they have to respect that. Barring one unofficial communication from a managing committee member, we have no other information from the association.”With premier hotels booked and logistics worked out, the franchises are now worried about the losses they will incur. “No hotel is going to give us a 100% refund. We’ve spent several lakhs to book almost two dozen rooms in a five-star hotel. This apart, if the tournament moves from here, it is going to be a logistical nightmare,” said a stakeholder from another franchise.The two venues being considered come with different challenges. The Alur facility, which is ideal cricket-wise, has no floodlights or spectator galleries. Which means the tournament will have to be held during the day, which makes it unsuitable for franchises and broadcasters.“We agreed to play closed door, but our sponsorship proposals were based on the live coverage on a national sports channel. There will be legal implications for us if the sponsors pull out, since Alur also does not have permanent broadcast facilities. It is a joke if we have to play Maharaja Trophy like local league matches,” lamented a team official.Mysuru, which has a good stadium with four wickets, will be in a race against time to get its four wickets up and running, with rain being a constant in the area for over a month, leading to most of the league matches being postponed or called off.
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