Venkatesh Prasad, the former India fast bowler, is the new president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association after defeating KN Shanth Kumar 749–558 in Saturday’s vote in Bengaluru. Ex-India batter Sujith Somasunder steps in as vice-president.
The result had been tipped Prasad’s way once Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath and several other past team-mates publicly endorsed him. Standing with his supporters after the count, Prasad set out his main priority: getting top-level matches back to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“First and foremost, this is a victory for the sport of cricket,” Prasad said. “Secondly, this is a victory for all the members who wanted a change, all the people who wanted international cricket to come back to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.”
No international or IPL fixture has been staged at the ground since 4 June, when 11 people died in a stampede outside the gates during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory parade. The tragedy prompted both the BCCI and Karnataka’s government to put a freeze on big-ticket cricket in the city, shifting domestic tournaments and India A fixtures to the board’s Centre of Excellence on the outskirts.
A subsequent fire-safety dispute with the state electricity board left Chinnaswamy without power for several weeks. Supply has been restored, but only after the KSCA passed an audit prompted by the inquiry led by Justice John Michael D’Cunha. His July report called the stadium’s “design and structure” “unsuitable and unsafe” for mass gatherings and warned of “unacceptable risks to public safety, urban mobility, and emergency preparedness” if crowds returned without significant upgrades.
Prasad has asked a small working group to study those findings and present realistic fixes. “We’ll start with what the report says we must do right away,” one committee member said on Sunday morning. “There’s no point talking about high-tech add-ons until the basics are sound.”
Local politicians appear willing to help. Karnataka’s deputy chief minister, DK Shivakumar, a KSCA life member, cast his ballot early and later told reporters, “I’m a cricket lover. We will ensure that the accident in Karnataka does not happen again and hold cricket events at Chinnaswamy Stadium in a manner that upholds the honour of Bengaluru. We will not shift the IPL elsewhere and will continue to hold it here at Chinnaswamy Stadium. This is the pride of Bengaluru and Karnataka, which we will retain.”
Somasunder, formerly head of education at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, said the new leadership would “listen more than we talk” over the next few weeks. “Players want certainty, broadcasters need clarity, and supporters deserve a safe day at the cricket. Getting all three aligned is possible, but only if we’re transparent.”
For now, the KSCA’s immediate calendar includes the Ranji Trophy, scheduled to start next month. Whether the opening home game is played at Chinnaswamy or moved to the Alur complex depends on how quickly safety upgrades can be signed off.
Prasad joins a small but growing list of ex-India players now running the sport. Earlier this year Mithun Manhas became BCCI president, following the path laid by Sourav Ganguly in 2019. Their experiences suggest the transition from dressing room to boardroom can be bumpy, yet offers a chance to shape the game they once played.
The new KSCA chief will be judged less on electoral arithmetic and more on whether Chinnaswamy’s floodlights come on for a full house before next season rolls around.
