Bengaluru Police Refuse Approval for Kohli’s Return, Vijay Hazare Trophy Matches Shifted

The excitement for the Vijay Hazare Trophy is huge this year because star players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will play in the tournament after 15 and 7 years, respectively. However, fans in Bengaluru will be denied an opportunity to watch Kohli play at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as the police have denied permission for the venue to host the matches. Police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh stated that the decision was taken based on the report submitted by the home department led by G Parameshwara.

Kohli and Pant to Play in Vijay Hazare Trophy, but Bengaluru Fans Won’t Get to Watch

The match is now likely to be played at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence which was kept ready as a back-up venue. With Kohli set to play, KSCA had earlier hinted at the possibility of opening two stands for the fans. This could've allowed around 2000 to 3000 fans to enter the stadium.

However, the proposal was met with strong opposition from the government, especially after what happened earlier this year during RCB's victory parade, which led to a stampede and 11 people losing their lives.

The state government wants to avoid any chaos at the venue. Since Kohli and Rishabh Pant will play the first two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches, the KSCA had to move the games from Alur to Chinnaswamy Stadium to make things easier to manage.