Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah calls for State Association to name stands at Chinnaswamy Stadium after local cricketing heroes

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged the state Cricket association, KSCA, to name stands at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru after local stalwarts like G R Viswanath, Erapalli Prasanna, and B S Chandrasekhar.

The trio helped Karnataka win the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 1973-74, leading to calls for having stands named after them to mark the Golden Jubilee of the achievement.

The move from the CM comes after former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar and historian and writer Ramachandra Guha appealed to the KCSA.

"I hope this golden jubilee is taken advantage of by the KSCA to name and honor some of the stands at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium after stalwarts, particularly those who won in 1974. Erapalli Prasanna, B S Chandrasekhar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, to name a few," said Gavaskar as quoted by Indian Express.

In a letter to KSCA President Raghuram Bhat A., CM Siddaramaiah said:

"I request you to consider naming the stands after G.R. Vishwanath, E.A.S. Prasanna and B.S. Chandrasekhar, which will inspire and encourage the upcoming cricketers of the state."

While Prasanna was the captain of Karnataka's title-winning side in 1973-74, Chandrasekhar was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 55 scalps.

Karnataka has since gone on to win eight Ranji Trophy titles, with their latest coming under Vinay Kumar in 2014-15.

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Chinnaswamy Stadium has hosted 3 games in the ongoing IPL season

Cut to the ongoing 2024 IPL season and the Chinnaswamy Stadium continues to be anything but a fortress for the home side RCB. In the three matches played at the venue thus far, RCB has won only the lone game and lost two.

The franchise emerged victorious in their home opener, defeating the Punjab Kings by four wickets. However, RCB suffered a dismal seven-wicket defeat in their following encounter with Kolkata Knight Riders.

Things continued to tread south when the Faf du Plessis-led unit lost a second consecutive home outing to Lucknow Super Giants by 28 runs on 2 April.

Languishing at ninth on the points table with one win in five games, RCB will hope to turn their home fortunes to make a comeback into the competition. They will play another four games at Chinnaswamy Stadium starting with a battle against SunRisers Hyderabad on April 15.