CHENNAI: The second-half of 2025 has not been the easiest for the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). Post the harrowing stampede during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL celebrations in June, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium has not switched on its floodlights to an international match. Women's World Cup was shifted away, and even the state's T-20 league — the Maharaja Trophy — was moved out. The Karnataka State government's probe panel led by retired high court judge Michael D'Cunha stated that the stadium is ill-equipped to host large-scale events in a safe manner.
In the aftermath, KSCA are going to polls on Sunday with former India pacer and former KSCA vice president Venkatesh Prasad contesting for the top post (the president). He was the vice president under former India spinner Anil Kumble's tenure in 2010-2013.
Prasad leads 'Team Game Changers' which has the support of former cricketers Kumble and pacer Javagal Srinath. Former India cricketers Kalpana Venkatachar, Sujith Somasundar and former KSCA secretary Santosh Menon are amongst few other names contesting for various posts.
Prasad's first priority, if elected to the President's post, is to bring international matches back to the Chinnaswamy Stadium at the earliest. "If we assume the office tomorrow evening, the first thing we are going to do is to, simultaneously speak with the Karnataka government and the BCCI officials with all our might. If you have to go and reach out to the government officials (and) have a dialogue with them, the whole team is going to be there. Even with BCCI, the whole team is going to be there. We are in sync with the BCCI," Prasad told this daily on the eve of the polls.
He went on to claim that the opposite camp had no reputed cricketers. "Contesting these elections on their side, there is no cricketer of any repute. There is no cricketer. Now in our team, there is myself, Sujith Somasundar, Kalpana Venkatachar, probably the first time in the history of KSCA that there is a woman who is contesting from our side. We have got very good, seasoned administrators. We have got qualified professionals in our team," he said. The other candidate for the president's post is KN Shanth Kumar, Director of The Printers Mysore. He is part of "Team Brijesh," backed by former KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel.
"Whatever we have done (in 2010-2013), it is all been undone, academies are defunct, we have lost grounds and the infrastructure is in a dilapidated condition, be it mofussil centres or in KSCA," he said.
Upgrading the said infrastructure would be another priority for Prasad and Co. "We are going to, you know, develop a lot of top grounds. There is a huge amount of talent. So, we want to give them an opportunity to express their talent. Also the Maharaja trophy, that is going to become bigger and better. So, that gives a lot of opportunity for the youngsters to go out and showcase their talent. The players have not been taken care of well. The Ranji Trophy players are not treated well. So, everything is going wrong in the last three years. A lot of things have gone down the drain," he said
