Key Points

Sources aware of the development have told IANS that the Karnataka government not granting permission for hosting games at the stadium due to serious safety concerns on any activity at the venue after the June 4 stampede has meant that its allotted matches for the Women’s ODI World Cup will now be moved to Thiruvananthapuram.

“Yes, it has come to light that due to no permissions coming on time for hosting World Cup games in Bengaluru, it will now be moving to Thiruvananthapuram, which is also an ideal venue due to weather conditions and its proximity to Colombo. The ICC will be officially announcing it soon,” sources further told IANS on Tuesday.

Uncertainty over future matches taking place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has persisted since the June 4 stampede outside its premises during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 victory celebrations.

The incident led to 11 deaths and over 50 people being injured, with the investigation still ongoing. Moreover, the findings by the Justice John Michael D'Cunha Commission had said that the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is ill-equipped to host large-scale events in a safe manner.

While saying that the ‘design and structure’ of the venue are inherently ‘unsuitable and unsafe’ for mass gatherings, the committee also warned that hosting high-attendance events at the stadium would pose ‘unacceptable risks to public safety, urban mobility, and emergency preparedness’.

Due to this, the KSCA was forced to shift Maharaja T20 Trophy games to Wadeyar Ground in Mysuru while Alur hosted the Maharani T20 competition matches. As per the original schedule, Bengaluru was the venue for the opening game of the women's ODI World Cup between India and Sri Lanka, as well as host one semi-final and possibly the final on November 2.

Bengaluru was also set to host two warm-up games ahead of the showpiece event. The Greenfield International Stadium, meanwhile, hasn’t hosted women’s international cricket games yet. But it has hosted four men’s T20Is and two ODI games so far, as well as staged Youth Tests and ODIs. It was also a venue for the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup warm-ups, but games were abandoned due to incessant rain.

Visakhapatnam, Indore, Guwahati, and Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, are the other venues for the tournament to be played in a round-robin format among eight teams – defending champions Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.

The 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup will also be the first women’s global cricket event in the sub-continent since India hosted the 2016 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. India has also staged the Women’s ODI World Cup in 1978, 1997, and 2013, respectively.

- IANS