Venkatesh Prasad: 'Want to bring cricket back to Chinnaswamy'

Venkatesh Prasad, the former India seamer, has vowed to restore the image of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, while also committing to improved governance and transparency at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) if elected at the upcoming elections.

Prasad, who served as KSCA vice-president from 2013-2016, announced his candidature for contesting in the board elections, on Wednesday at an event in Bengaluru. His team includes Shantha Rangaswamy, the former India women's captain, and Vinay Mruthyunjaya, a ex-KSCA officer bearer and member of BCCI's finance committee.

"We would like to bring back international cricket," Prasad said. "It's such an iconic venue, Chinnaswamy Stadium, which has been standing for the last 50 years. This [permission to host matches] is something which has never happened. Even our own Maharaja Cup has also been moved out which is not a good thing."

Prasad's potential re-entry into administration comes at a time when the KSCA finds itself on a sticky wicket. The association has been functioning without a secretary and treasurer since June, after they resigned citing moral responsibility in the aftermath of the stampede around the M Chinnaswamy Stadium premises that claimed 11 lives during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's victory celebration.

Police permission for subsequent events have been repeatedly denied, forcing the KSCA to shift the Maharaja T20 Trophy to Mysore. As things stand, it looks increasingly likely Bengaluru will not have permissions in place to host matches during the upcoming Women's World Cup.

KSCA have also run into issues with the local regulatory bodies, including the electricity supply department (BESCOM) that has cut-off power to the venue due to non-compliance of fire safety regulations.

Bengaluru was slated to host the Women's World Cup opener, the second semi-final, and even the final - if Pakistan don't qualify. Those games appear to be in a limbo after the KSCA has missed multiple deadlines set by the BCCI to secure all approvals.

"One of the preconditions whenever the BCCI allots matches, they give us a deadline to get the state government permission. If we don't get the permission, they will not host the matches," Mruthyunjaya explained.

"In the current situation, as you know that the permission has been denied... What we mean to say is, we are going to work together to see that as and when the match comes to Bangalore, we will put our efforts to get the necessary permissions from the government agencies."

Prasad & team's immediate priority - if they're elected - is to address the safety concerns that led to the stampede. A one-member committee appointed by the state government noted serious flaws in the stadium's design, and deemed it "unfit and unsafe" to host big matches involving large gatherings.

Mruthyunjaya outlined plans for a comprehensive review of the Justice Michael D'Cunha report, while conducting all necessary safety audits before seeking government permissions to resume hosting matches.

"We would definitely like to review the recommendations of the Judicial Commission with respect to the government agencies," Mruthyunjaya said. "There will be no compromise with respect to the safety of the fans, safety of the spectators, safety of the cricketers. When it comes to safety, we want to give priority to that."

Prasad also outlined KSCA's ambitious plans of increasing the Chinnaswamy Stadium's seating capacity, factoring in all engineering challenges. "We need to work on that. Because as I said earlier, this was built in 1974. I'm sure we cannot take it to 80,000 and so on. So probably another 15,000 more, maybe up to 50,000 and now it's 34,000-35,000."

Prasad also shared plans of developing a Lord's inspired cricket museum with interactive exhibits and virtual reality experience to showcase the heritage of Indian and Karnataka cricket.