Cricket

'Home' venue concerns posing fresh challenge for IPL franchises

January 24, 2026

'Home' venue concerns posing fresh challenge for IPL franchises | Cricket News - The Times of IndiaEditionININUSEnglishEnglishहिन्दीमराठीಕನ್ನಡதமிழ்বাংলাമലയാളംతెలుగుગુજરાતીWeatherSign InTOIToday's ePaperNewsSports NewsCricket News'Home' venue concerns posing fresh challenge for IPL franchises'Home' venue concerns posing fresh challenge for IPL franchisesK Shriniwas Rao / TIMESOFINDIA. COM / Jan 24, 2026, 10:44 ISTCommentsShareAA+Text SizeSmallMediumLarge M Chinnaswamy Stadium (BCCI Photo) If the inconvenience of getting stuck between a rock and a hard place had a face to go with right now, it would somewhat resemble Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The aftermath of last year’s stampede in the heart of the city, immediately after RCB won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title, was an open wound left unattended. The prognosis around it kept getting political, controversial, and somewhat murky — all to the extent that cricket fans became convinced the IPL wasn’t returning to Bangalore in a hurry. However, a change of administration in the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) saw former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad take control.

Credit: Indiatimes

Key Highlights

Prasad and his team lobbied with the state government in Karnataka to put in place some stringent Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) based on which the RCB could return to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
So far, so good.
To that extent one thought cricket was once again returning to RCB’s home ground and last year’s incident — a national embarrassment of mammoth proportions — would undergo a healing process.'Indian cricket no less than Bollywood abroad' | Bombay Sport ExchangeHowever, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
RCB, it is learnt, is finding it difficult to adhere to the entire list of SOPs drafted by the state and city authorities.
To put things in a nutshell, RCB management isn’t convinced how all the boxes pertaining to the SOPs can be ticked with a firm guarantee and therefore, a 100% commitment has become a bit of a concern. Keeping these grey areas in mind, RCB — which was already looking at playing outside of Bangalore until KSCA began addressing the issue — has started looking at alternate venues once again.

Sources

'Home' venue concerns posing fresh challenge for IPL franchises

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'Home' venue concerns posing fresh challenge for IPL franchises

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