Ever since KSCA announced that they would be conducting the Maharaja Trophy exclusively at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here, there has been plenty of criticism on social media.
Fans from mofussil centres like Mysuru, Hubballi or Shivamogga -- to name a few -- felt they were robbed of the limited chance of seeing stars of Karnataka cricket at their respective venues in action. In previous editions of the tournament, a vast majority of the league matches took place at the so-called smaller centres and fans from those regions expressed their anguish on various social media platforms over KSCA's new move.
KSCA vice-president BK Sampath Kumar said they were forced to stage all the matches in Bengaluru owing to the broadcaster's demand. "The broadcaster (Star Sports) wanted all the matches in Bengaluru. They felt it would be hard logistically if the matches were at other venues. So we decided to have the matches exclusively in Bengaluru.
"We (the new administration) took office only in November. We had a very limited time to get this tournament up and going. Next year we will seriously consider staging the matches in other venues."
The tournament was in the news for all the wrong reasons in November 2019 when a few players and owners were arrested on charges on match-fixing, an issue plaguing the sport at various levels. Sampath said KSCA has sought BCCI's help to curb such malpractices.
"The Anti-Corruption Unit will be run by the BCCI. It will have one chief and six members. You never know when and how a player can be tempted. To ensure the game is played in right spirit, we've ensured BCCI's ACU oversees it."
Published 10 August 2023, 23:08 IST