Former Indian fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad was elected the new president of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Sunday. Prasad, former vice president of this association, defeated experienced sports administrator KN Shant Kumar by 749-558. A total of 1307 members voted in these elections.

Prasad will now face the challenge of bringing back top-level cricket in the state, which was marginalized after the stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4. In this, 11 fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore were killed.

Prasad and Shanth Kumar, director of The Printers (Mysore) Pvt Ltd and one of the directors of the PTI board, both pledged to take necessary steps to revive cricket in the state. This was the main election issue of their respective panels.

Former Indian batsman Sujit Somasundar defeated D. Vinod Shivappa by 719-588 in the election for the post of Vice President. Somasundar had recently resigned from the post of education head of BCCI ‘Centre of Excellence’ to contest the KSCA elections.

BN Madhukar has become the new treasurer of KSCA by defeating MS Vinay by 736-571. Veteran administrator Santosh Menon returned to the association as the new secretary by defeating ES Jayaram 675-632.

After 11 fans died and many were injured in the stampede near M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Jayaram had resigned from the post of KSCA secretary, taking moral responsibility for this tragic incident.

The Prasad-led panel had the support of former Indian players like Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath. This panel captured all the important posts except the Joint Secretary.

These elections were held from 10 am to 5 pm. In the camp supported by Brijesh Patel, BK Ravi won for the post of Joint Secretary by defeating AV Shashidhar by a margin of 669-638.

Former women cricketer Kalpana Venkatachar (764) and former Karnataka wicketkeeper batsman Avinash Vaidya (691), who contested from Prasad’s panel, were selected as members from the Bengaluru region along with Ashish Amarlal (703).

Namita

Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad has become the new president of Karnataka State Cricket Association. He has achieved the post of President by defeating Brijesh Patel supported panel member KN Shant Kumar. Santosh Menon was appointed secretary and Sujit Somasundar was appointed vice president from Venkatesh Prasad’s panel.

Venkatesh Prasad’s team had made it clear that they would work actively so that cricket could return to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. This is the same ground outside which there was a stampede after RCB won the title in IPL 2025. Since then no competitive match has been played at this ground in Bengaluru.

Sujit Somasundar, who was on Venkatesh Prasad’s panel, had recently left the post of Head of Cricket Education at BCCI’s Center of Excellence. He will now hold the post of Vice President of KSCA. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and KSCA life member DK Shivakumar also reached Chinnaswamy Stadium during the day and also cast his vote.

Former Indian Cricketer Venkatesh Prasad wins the election for the post of President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. Santosh Menon and Sujith Somasunder elected secretary and Vice-President respectively.

— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2025

He told the media, “We will not allow IPL matches to be moved out of Chinnaswamy Stadium. It is a matter of pride for Bengaluru and Karnataka. We will work tirelessly to ensure that IPL matches are held here. I am a fan of cricket. We would like to ensure that such incidents do not happen here again and the dignity of the ground is maintained. We are preparing to build another stadium.”

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