Bengaluru to return to Chinnaswamy Stadium for IPL games after safety improvements

BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in this year’s Indian Premier ​League at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where a stampede killed ‌11 people in June while fans were celebrating their maiden IPL title outside the arena, the franchise said on ​Tuesday.

The stadium will stage this month’s tournament opener ​and a playoff match as well as ⁠the final, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) president Venkatesh ​Prasad told news agency PTI.

The decision to return to ​their stadium, which has not staged cricket matches with fans in attendance while the local government reviewed its safety arrangements, ​was taken after discussions with the KSCA, Bengaluru ​said in a statement.

“The collective efforts to ramp up infrastructure and ‌safety ⁠measures in time for the IPL season have ensured that the defending champions will play the majority of their home games at their home ground,” ​Bengaluru said.

Bengaluru will ​also play ⁠two of their seven home games in the IPL’s league phase in Raipur.

Local ​media reports said the KSCA, led by ​former ⁠Indian international Prasad, conducted an infrastructure overhaul to improve fan safety.

“We sincerely thank the Government of Karnataka, ⁠the KSCA, ​and the Karnataka police for ​their support in making this possible,” Bengaluru’s CEO Rajesh Menon said.