Chinnaswamy Stadium to miss hosting Ranji games for second season in a row

The iconic venue of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is all set to miss out on the Ranji Trophy action this year as well. The venue will not be hosting the Ranji games since the surface at the venue is set to undergo a renovation after the conclusion of the fourth ODI between India and Australia. A senior official mentioned that the pitch will not be relayed but only topped up again.

Interestingly, the venue of Chinnaswamy Stadium had missed out on the action in Ranji Trophy last year as well since the pitch was relaid. The venue, renowned for being a batting belter, turned into a slow turner after the relaying of the surface.

“We are not re-laying the pitch, we’re just topping it up. The first match (against Assam) will be held in Mysuru, second one (vs Hyderabad) in Shivamogga and the third one (against Delhi) will be in Alur or Hubbali,” Vinay Mruthyunjaya, the official spokesperson of KSCA, told Cricbuzz.

Meanwhile, the KSCA Secretary mentioned that the plan was always there to top up the surface. However, they opted to wait till the ODI fixture between India and Australia gets over. The pitch was under some criticism earlier this year during the Test fixture against Australia. Now, they hope to provide competitive surface at the venue.

“We wanted to take up this work after the One-Day International match. We had decided long back that it should be ready for next year. It was an old pitch. We had relaid the outfield (last year) and we decided to rework the wicket this year. We wanted to provide a sporting wicket, looking at all angles – for the Test matches, ODIs, T20s – and we got good clay and soil this time so we thought of doing this. It requires three to four months (for completion), it should be fit for the IPL,” Sudhakar Rao, the KSCA secretary mentioned.

Bringing more crowds

The KSCA Secretary further added that with Chinnaswamy Stadium not hosting the game, there will be a good opportunity for the other venues to get the feel of high quality cricket. Rao mentioned that there will be good chances for the likes of Alur, Mysuru, Hubballi, and Shivamogga. All these places have been getting good crowds unlike Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“We have a lot of options – Alur, Mysuru, Hubballi, Shivamogga, Belagaum. We want to take the Ranji Trophy matches to the mofussil areas. You get more crowd there, they like to watch the Ranji Trophy matches. If current international players like [KL] Rahul, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey play, we can definitely expect some crowd there,” Rao cited.