The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) still has no go-ahead from Bengaluru police to stage this month’s Maharaja T20 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, and time is starting to bite. The 16-day tournament is pencilled in for 11-27 August; every fixture, hotel booking and broadcast schedule assumed the city-centre ground would be available.
The police hesitation is tied to the 4 June stampede that broke out during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory parade. Eleven people died, more than 50 were hurt and a Criminal Investigation Department probe remains unfinished. Until that report lands, senior officers say they cannot sign off on another crowd event at the same venue.
Back on 11 July the KSCA tried to head off trouble by declaring, “The 2025 Maharaja T20 will be staged behind closed doors.” It has not been enough. A fresh back-up plan has Alur – the board’s own out-ground about 30 km away – on standby, with the Wadeyar Ground in Mysuru also mentioned. Alur boasts three first-class strips and famously quick drainage, yet no floodlights and barely any permanent seating. Broadcasters are twitchy; franchises even more so after paying up-front for city hotels.
The association’s immediate headache is women’s cricket. Alur is already down to host all group matches of the Maharani T20 from 4 August. The idea had been to shift the women’s final to the Chinnaswamy for a bit of profile, but that now looks remote.
Franchise officials are not hiding their irritation. One owner, speaking on background, reckoned a late switch could add “close to 20 per cent” to operational costs. Another noted the optics: “A state T20 league played in an empty out-ground doesn’t sell the product.”
Wider ramifications lurk. Bengaluru has the opening match of the Women’s ODI World Cup (India v Sri Lanka on 30 September), one semi-final and possibly the final. Two warm-ups sit in the diary as well. Last week a one-man government commission labelled the Chinnaswamy “unsafe” for large-scale events and “strongly recommended” that they be moved to venues “better suited” to heavy crowds.
For now the national calendar shuffles around the uncertainty. The Duleep Trophy, which kicks off the domestic season, will stay entirely at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence; an earlier idea of taking the final to Bengaluru was binned once the women’s World Cup build-up took priority.
Privately, KSCA officials argue the stadium has met every safety upgrade demanded since June and insist the CID findings will reflect that. Until the paperwork lands on the commissioner’s desk, though, the ground’s floodlights remain off and the Maharaja T20 hangs by a thread.
The next update is expected early next week. Everyone – players, sponsors, satellite trucks on hourly hire – will be listening.
