Vijay Hazare Trophy: Virat Kohli to play, but not at Chinnaswamy Stadium as matches shifted to BCCI's CoE

Delhi is scheduled to play Andhra Pradesh on December 24 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence on the outskirts of Bengaluru

In a decision which is likely to render cricket fans of Bengaluru heartbroken, the permission to hold Vijay Hazare Trophy matches at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been denied.

The opening match on December 24 will involve former India captain Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant as Delhi is scheduled to play Andhra Pradesh.

The matches will be now played at the BCCI Centre of Excellence on the outskirts of the city, near the Kempegowda International Airport.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reacted to the development and told news agency ANI, "There is a committee constituted by the Home Minister which will look into it. Everything will be done as per the recommendations of the committee."

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said that the committee had been constituted to examine giving permissions to hold cricket matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) had sought permission to hold Vijay Hazare Trophy matches at the stadium without allowing the spectators.

After KSCA sent a request to the State government for conducting the matches at the Chinnaswamy stadium behind closed doors, a committee headed by GBA chief commissioner M Maheshwar Rao was constituted to examine the feasibility of conducting them.

Delhi will open their Elite Group D campaign against Andhra in Bengaluru, now at the BCCI Centre of Excellence after the decision of the Karnataka State Home Ministry, following which they will face Gujarat.

Major matches were stopped at the Chinnaswamy stadium after a stampede occurred outside it during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL victory celebration on June 4, in which 11 people died.