In late move, KSCA shifts Vijay Hazare Trophy matches away from Chinnaswamy

The KSCA has been asked to shift all the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches - including Wednesday's opener between Delhi and Andhra involving Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant - from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to the BCCI Centre of Excellence due to security reasons. The KSCA were informed of the late development on Tuesday morning by Karnataka's home ministry.

This is the second switch in venues in two weeks. The KSCA had earlier shifted at least matches involving Kohli and Pant from Alur to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium due to logistical and security challenges. Both teams - Delhi and Andhra - have been apprised of this development ahead of their training session, which will now happen at CoE.

The KSCA, which is in charge of logistics, have been asked to ensure all the matches across Bengaluru will be played behind closed doors. The Bengaluru police have assured a strong security presence around the Aerospace Park, where CoE is located.

The CoE has previously hosted the Duleep Trophy, Women's World Cup warm-up fixtures and India A's series against South Africa behind closed doors.

The KSCA had earlier expressed confidence in staging matches involving Kohli and Pant at the M Chinnaswamy Stadiums. They had even hinted at the possibility of two stands thrown open to the general public, which could've seated between 2000-3000 spectators if full.

However, such a proposal is understood to have been met by strong opposition from the government, who cited "potential security and compliance issues", even as work on several areas identified to be addressed continue to be ongoing. ESPNcricinfo understands the state government wanted to prevent chaos around the Chinnaswamy during the holiday season.

On Monday, a committee constituted by the Karnataka government that included officials from police, public works and fire safety department inspected the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday and submit a report.

Since Venkatesh Prasad took over as KSCA president earlier this month, there has been frenetic activity around the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Several meetings have been held with the government officials over the possibility of top-flight cricket, including the IPL, returning to the venue subject to them complying with issues raised by the Justice John Michael D'Cunha report that labelled the venue as "highly unsafe" for large gatherings.