BENGALURU: Karnataka State Cricket Association president Venkatesh Prasad has said that the state body is looking to finalise the team architects to renovate the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and increase the capacity on Friday.
Speaking at the launch event of the Maharaja Trophy and Maharani Trophy here, Prasad said: “One of the reasons why the IPL final was moved from Bengaluru to Ahmedabad could have been the seating capacity. We had close to 28 architects - from across the globe - show interest in redesigning and redeveloping the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. We are in the process of shortlisting the final team of architects." Prasad also went on to add that new LED lights are to be installed at the iconic venue along with the Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadeyar Cricket Stadium (Mysuru) and KSCA Stadium (Hubballi).
Meanwhile, the six-team Maharaja Trophy is set to be held in Mysuru and Hubballi from June 20 to July 12. The upcoming edition will see two new owners — Mangaluru (owned by Klene Paks Ltd) and Shivamogga (owned ICS Mobile Pvt Ltd) — in the men's event while the women's tournament will see four teams fight against each other.
Each franchise are allowed to pick 16-18 players with two from the catchment area. “To ensure that there is no compromise on the quality of players in this tournament, the pool of players will be picked by the KSCA selection committee. We will give franchises a pool of 130 to 150 players to pick their squads. Nobody outside of this pool will be allowed to participate in the tournament. Even the catchment area players have to undergo the scrutiny of the KSCA selection committee,” KSCA secretary Santosh Menon said.